NEW YORK CITY: For the Playwrights Realm’s 15th Anniversary Restart Season, the organization has decided to expand its support programs for playwrights instead of mounting new productions.
The Realm has chosen a cohort of playwrights whose work the organization will support throughout the 2021-22 season, including a new international group. These include three programs: a writing fellowship, whose members include Will Brumley, Jeesun Choi, Emma Horwitz, and Audley Puglisi; a Scratchpad Series, including playwrights Agyeiwaa Asante, Aurora Real de Asua, and Nubia Monks; and a new international Scratchpad Series, including Vivienne Glanceand Dhinesha Karthigesu.
“Over the Realm‘s history, we’ve consistently worked to expand and improve our open submission programs to provide more access and support to early-career playwrights,” said founding artistic director Katherine Kovner in a statement. “First came our writing fellowship, still going strong at 13 years and counting—but only accessible to local writers. This inspired our Scratchpad Series, which was created five years ago to allow us to engage with writers nationwide.” That led, in turn to the international Scratchpad Series, particularly after a year of “virtual rehearsals and collaborations.”
Said associate artistic director Alexis Williams in a statement, “We were awed at the record-shattering number of submissions we received; knowing that so many folks continued to create and write in times as taxing as the past year is truly inspiring…Whether by subverting constructs of gender and identity, exploring the impact of climate change, playing with theatrical forms from across the globe, or reimagining classic texts, these writers are vigorously grappling with the possibilities of the stories we tell (and how we tell them). Their voices are uniquely compelling, and we are so excited to engage with them and their work this season.”
The Realm has also announced plans for its second round of Script Share, offering all- professional feedback to playwrights. Script Share participants are selected via lottery, now open here.
The Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship Program awards four early-career playwrights with nine months of resources (including a $3,000 stipend), workshops, and feedback. This year’s fellows will develop a single new play through monthly group meetings providing a space or collaboration, as well as one-on-one meetings with Realm artistic staff. Fellows will also work with a director, design consultants, and actors for two readings. Professional development resources are tailored to each group: mentor opportunities, meet-and-greets, and seminars are help participants understand the workings of the business side of theatre. The program culminates with the INK’D Festival, featuring a public in person or virtual) presentation for each fellow.
This year’s fellows are Kansas-born Will Brumley, with the play Pulling Leather: A Queer Rodeo Fantasia; Jeesun Choi, a transnational Korean playwright and physical theatre artist, with the play Lost Coast; NYC-based Emma Horwitz, with the play Mary Gets Hers; and poet/playwright Audley Puglisi, with the play the salt women.
The Scratchpad Series supports early-career playwrights from all over the U.S. an the world. The series provides playwrights with a paid developmental process of up to one week culminating in a reading (internal or public, at the writer’s discretion). The 2021-2022 Scratchpad Playwrights, and the works they’ll develop, include Agyeiwaa Asante, a Ghanaian American theatre artist, with the play Dainty; Aurora Real de Asua, a Calfornia-born artist, with the play Wet; actor/writer/educator Nubia Monks, with the play The Girl(s) Next Door; Australian playwright Vivienne Glance, with Bruised; and Kuala Lumpur-based Dhinesha Karthigesu, with the play Ravayana.
