Shonda Rhimes and IAMA Theatre Company’s Playwriting Commission Names its 2025 Recipient

IAMA Theatre Company has selected Alicia Carroll as the 2025 recipient of the Los Angeles-based theatre company’s The Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission, sponsored by IAMA Patron of the Arts Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” ““Bridgerton”). Now in its eighth year, The Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission was created to nurture emerging playwriting talent with an emphasis on cultural inclusion and fresh creativity in theatre. This commission supports a writer from an underrepresented community, who has been minimally professionally produced, but not had a commercial, Off-Broadway, or Broadway production of their work. 
 

“We are so honored to continue to support thrilling new voices such as Alicia's;  it’s especially meaningful to support a writer who began her journey with us in our Emerging Playwrights Lab,” said IAMA Artistic Director Stefanie Black, “Alicia has been a valued member of the IAMA community and we are delighted to be able to continue our collaboration with her in this way. We can’t wait to see what she writes next.” 

Alicia Carroll was a member of IAMA’s 2020-21 Emerging Playwrights Lab, an artistic home for early-career and emerging Los Angeles-based playwrights. Previous works written in the IAMA Emerging Playwrights Lab have seen various runs at theatres across the nation including the 2024 run of Max Wolf Freidlich’s JOB. 

“There is no greater gift for a writer than the time and resources they need to create,” shared Carroll. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity to work on a new piece with the guidance and support of the IAMA team.” 

Alicia Carroll is a playwright and TV writer hailing from Philadelphia and the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia area (DMV). Her writing credits include “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” (Peacock), “The Watchful Eye” (Freeform), “Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist” (NBC) and Crooked Media's comedic live show and podcast, “Lovett Or Leave It.” She has participated in several fellowships and labs across mediums as a writer, including Film Independent's Project Involve Fellowship, Women In Film: Insight Fellowship, IAMA Theatre Company's Emerging Playwrights Lab, ESTLA's Ignite Lab, The Workshop Theater's Winter Rewrite Intensive, and The Orchard Project’s Greenhouse Lab. When she's not writing, Carroll teaches TV writing online at Story Brain Academy, Writing Workshops, The Writing Pad and Sundance Collab. She also works with Expand The Canon, bringing classics by underrepresented playwrights to the forefront.  

Past recipients of The Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission include IAMA Ensemble Member Brian Otaño; playwright and activist Geraldine Inoa; Iranian-American playwright Sanaz Toosi, who went on to receive a Pulitzer Prize; Obie-winning performer/playwright Ryan J. Haddad; Emmy-nominated writer, director and producer Larry Powell; celebrated actor, director and playwright June Carryl; and Chinese-Canadian playwright, TV writer, screenwriter Chloé Hung. In 2016, IAMA became a recipient of The Rhimes Foundation, led by legendary television producer and screenwriter, Shonda Rhimes. In turn, Rhimes, a frequent IAMA audience member and supporter, was named IAMA’s inaugural Patron of the Arts in 2017, committing funds for the commission as well as other important support for IAMA’s mission and programming through The Rhimes Foundation. The Rhimes Foundation was established in 2016 to support arts, education and activism, with a focus on promoting cultural inclusion and fighting inequality.