Rocco Natale is a Newington-Cropsey Fellowship recipient for dramatic writing and research. Rocco's plays ("Great Expectations", "Smoke Signals", "Room at the End of the Hall") have had the honor of being performed in countries around the world to audiences of all ages. Rocco’s work "Room at the End of the Hall" has been a semi-finalist in the Eugene O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference and Premiere Stages and was last seen at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Rocco has had the pleasure of working with Signature Theatre Company, Urban Stages, New York Theatre Workshop, The Cherry Lane Theatre, Mirror Repertory Company, The University of Connecticut and Shakespeare on the Sound. Rocco is also the Executive Director of Open Arts Alliance, a non-profit social service organization that uses therapeutic arts programs to educate students and engage senior citizens.