Liberation Theatre Company Seeks Applications For Year Six Of Their Writing Residency Program

Liberation Theatre Company (LTC), a Harlem-based independent theatrical producer and playwright development company established in 2009, is inviting applications from early-career Black playwrights to participate in the sixth year of their Writing Residency Program for 2023-2024.

LTC will select four playwrights and provide them with dramaturgical and professional support over a ten-month period, during which time they will each be required to complete the first draft of an original full-length play. Funding for the program has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.

"We are deeply pleased to be able to offer our program for another year. Judging by the number of applications we've received over the first five years, we have seen the interest grow because the need remains," said Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, Producing Artistic Director of Liberation Theatre Company. "Early career Black playwrights need a support network, feedback on their work and access to new opportunities. That has been both the program mission and our organizational mission from the start."

The deadline to submit an application is Friday, March 31, 2023. Submissions may only be made using the form found at this link:
https://liberationtheatrecompany.submittable.com/submit/253420/liberation-theatre-company-writing-residency-program-2023-24?fbclid=IwAR0sDZYYs0ssgsHuOx0awY_RsIys2YNRY5R21VGtzuP333yJcSKblF5bAbw

Starting in May 2023, the chosen playwrights will attend monthly group meetings to share their works-in-progress. They will meet individually with LTC leadership who will provide additional support for their artistic needs and concerns; and have the resources of a director and professional actors for table readings as their plays take shape.

Liberation Theatre Company will provide access to theatre tickets when available and seek to make introductions with artistic leaders to assist playwrights in advancing their careers.

The Writing Residency Program will conclude in February 2024, with the possibility of public readings of the finished plays. Playwrights will receive an honorarium upon successful completion of the program.

Liberation Theatre Company was established in 2009 with the mission to create a home for emerging Black playwrights to develop their work and express themselves artistically in a supportive and focused environment. LTC offers dramaturgical services and professional readings. The Writing Residency Program was established in 2017-2018 and to date has worked with 20 playwrights, many of whom have subsequently had plays produced at festivals and by regional theatre companies.

In 2010, LTC initiated Harlem9, a successful collaboration of Black theatre producers in Harlem, which began producing the annual 48Hours in... Harlem 10-minute play festival in August 2011. 48Hours in... Harlem received an Obie Award in 2014, and several anthologies of plays written for the festivals have been published and made available to drama schools, libraries and the general public.

LTC is managed by Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, co-founder and Producing Artistic Director, Spencer Scott Barros, co-founder and Associate Artistic Director, and Bernard J. Tarver, Associate Producing Director.