ND: In Depth

Resident playwright Andy Bragen continues his conversation with playwrights who are creating new ways to produce their own work. In this segment, he interviews three writers, Lynn Rosen (ND resident playwright), Susan Bernfield, and Peter Gil-Sheridan, who formed a pop-up theater company/temporary consortium called The Pool.This November & December, the writers of The Pool will present one another's plays in rotating rep at the Flea’s new Siggy Theater in Tribeca.Washed Up On The Potomac by Lynn Rosen, directed by José ZayasThe Rafa Play by Peter Gil Sheridan, directed by Morgan Gould (ND resident playwright)Tania in the Getaway Van by Susan Bernfield, directed by Portia KriegerClick here to learn more and to track their progress towards production through their crowd fundraising platform.

In this segment, resident playwright Sam Chanse continues her conversation with three additional playwrights about their responses to the new presidential administration, and how they are navigating the terrain. What specific strategies are playwrights using to take action, what is the intersection of theater and resistance, and how can we sustain our energy going forward?Zell Williams, (ND current resident), play and television writer based in LA. He's also a co-host of The Inner Cities, a weekly comical podcast on race and politics from a black perspective.Kimber Lee, playwright.Andrea Thome, (ND alum) playwright.“Resistance loves company” is the tag line of the WAM (Weekly Action Meetings) group hosted by ND alum Liz Duffy Adams and Gus Schulenberg/Flux Theatre Ensemble, who offered the moniker while recording Part 1.

In this segment, resident playwright Sam Chanse continues her conversation with three additional playwrights about their responses to the new presidential administration, and how they are navigating the terrain. What specific strategies are playwrights using to take action, what is the intersection of theater and resistance, and how can we sustain our energy going forward?Chisa Hutchinson, New Dramatists resident playwright and founder of The Bedrock InitiativeRehana Lew Mirza, playwright and advocate for 101 NightsMashuq Mushtaq Deen, New Dramatists resident playwright and community organizer “Resistance loves company” is the tag line of the WAM (Weekly Action Meetings) group hosted by ND alum Liz Duffy Adams and Gus Schulenberg/Flux Theatre Ensemble, who offered the moniker while recording Part 1.

In this segment, resident playwright Sam Chanse brings together fellow writers/educators/theatre administrators to share responses to the presidential election and the new administration, and how they are navigating the terrain. What specific strategies are playwrights using to take action, what is the intersection of theater and resistance, and how can we sustain our energy going forward?Antoinette Nwandu, playwright and theatre professor http://antoinettenwandu.com/Cori Thomas, ND resident playwright http://newdramatists.org/cori-thomasCate Yu, playwright and former director of public programs at the Asian American Arts AllianceLiz Duffy Adams, ND alumna playwright and co-founder of Weekly Action Meetings group for theatre peopleGus Schulenburg, playwright, co-founder of Flux Theatre Ensemble, participant in the New Sanctuary Coalition, and associate producer of The Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project.

In this episode, resident playwright Andy Bragen gathers playwrights who run their own theatre companies. Listen as he, Julia Jarcho, Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas, Deborah Stein, and Eugenie Chan discuss the joys and challenges of taking the artistic lead. To learn more about the work of each company, please visit their websites:http://www.andybragentheatreprojects.com/http://minortheater.org/http://fulcrumtheater.org/http://steinholum.org/http://www.eugeniechantheater.org/

Each year New Dramatists recognizes four actors who have contributed substantially to the creation of new works by our resident writers. In our latest podcast episode, John Steber, New Dramatists' Director of the Playwrights Lab, interviews Vanessa Aspillaga, recipient of the Charles Bowden Award in 2005.

Five New Dramatists residents playwrights - Sharon Bridgforth, Andy Bragen, Clarence Coo, Erin Courtney, and Sibyl Kempson— talk about the evolution of their projects within the concentrated pressure-cooker environment of New Dramatists' PlayTime Developmental Studio. The episode was edited by Karinne Keithley Syers from interviews that she and Mashuq Deen, serving as resource playwrights to the participants, conducted during the second week of the Studio in November, 2015.

Three New Dramatists resident playwrights, Sylvan Oswald, Basil Kreimendahl, and Mashuq Deen, come together with the shared experience of being transmasculine artists working in the theatre industry. This hour-long candid conversation asks questions such as: What is the intersection between theatre and queer communities? Where are the commonalities in one anothers’ plays? Is there a shared agenda with regards to gender parity and opportunities in the theatre? How does a writer walk the line between generosity towards the audience and artistic authenticity? Sections of this conversation were published on HowlRound.

The latest in New Dramatists' podcast series is a re-airing of Lift Lift Lift, a dramatic collage written and produced by resident playwright Matthew Freeman, which premiered in 2014 at the HearNow Festival in Kansas City and on Atlanta Fringe Radio.The piece features performances by Moira Stone, Robert Honeywell, David DelGrosso, Matthew Trumbull and Stephanie Willing.

Manhattan Theater Club has been the subject of controversy in the news recently for their lack of diversity in the upcoming season. However, one of our New Dramatists playwrights in residence found it unsurprising in the least. Commentary by A. Zell Williams.If you'd like to comment on what you hear in the piece, or your views on diversity in the American Theater, please tweet us: @NewDramatists.