The Playwrights Realm Seeks 2015-16 Writing Fellows

The Playwrights Realm (Katherine Kovner, Artistic Director) is now accepting applications for their 2015-16 Writing Fellows program. For more information, visit www.playwrightsrealm.org/fellow-app/.

The Writing Fellows program lies at the heart of what The Playwrights Realm does -- helping writers write. Each year, four early-career playwrights are selected to join The Playwrights Realm to work on a new play over the course of nine months. Through creative development with the Realm's artistic staff, each writer brings their play from draft form to a production-ready state. The Playwrights Realm customizes each residency based on both the individual and collective needs of the group of Fellows guiding not just the creative development of a play, but the professional development of the writers as well. The entire experience is designed to widen an artist's network of resources and gain a strong foothold in the New York theatre world. In addition to creative and professional development support, over the course of the nine month Fellowship the selected playwrights receive a $2,500 stipend, an internal reading with actors, and the generous use of the Realm's office space for printing, writing, meetings and more.

This Residency culminates in a final reading of each playwright's finished work in the INK'D Festival of new work. The writers will work with a designer to help develop the physical world of their script and see select elements of these designs fully realized on stage in the readings. All readings in INK'D are open to the public, free-of-charge, and will occur in May of 2016.

In the review process, applicants' plays are read by playwrights, producers, dramaturgs, and directors from across the country. Finalists' plays go through several rounds of readings, and finalists themselves are interviewed by Realm staff. Fellows are chosen based on their demonstration of intellectual curiosity, commitment to a career as a playwright, and, of course, the promise of their voice and vision.

Past Writing Fellows include Amy Herzog (After the Revolution, 4000 Miles), Bekah Brunstetter (Hey Brother), Mia Chung (You For Me For You), J.C. Lee (HBO's Looking), Ethan Lipton (Red-Handed Otter), Stefanie Zadravec (The Electric Baby), Joe Tracz (The Lightning Thief, Be More Chill), Mfoniso Udofia (Sojourners) and Elizabeth Irwin, whose My Mañana Comes was produced this season by the company. A complete list of past Writing Fellows can be found at playwrightsrealm.org.

The Playwrights Realm, helmed by Artistic Director Katherine Kovner, is devoted to supporting emerging playwrights along the journey of playwriting, helping them to hone their craft, fully realize their vision and build meaningful artistic careers. To serve this mission, The Playwrights Realm has produced one Off-Broadway play each year since its founding in 2007, giving ample time and support to every playwright who has joined the Realm. In the 2014-15 season, The Realm expanded their season to also include the newly instituted Alumni Production, which will be dedicated to mounting new works by the growing contingent of Alumni Playwrights who have previously been produced by the company. Previous productions by The Playwrights Realm include the inaugural Alumni Production City Of by Anton Dudley, My Mañana Comes by Elizabeth Irwin (2014), The Hatmaker's Wife by Lauren Yee, Red-Handed Otter by Ethan Lipton (2012), Crane Story by Jen Silverman (2011), Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco's Dramatis Personae (2010), Christopher Wall's Dreams of the Washer King (2010), Anna Ziegler's Dov and Ali (2009) and Anton Dudley's Substitution (2008). The Playwrights Realm is dedicated to providing comprehensive support to playwrights throughout their creative processes and careers and supplements its Off Broadway productions with the Page One Residency, Alumni Playwrights Program, Writing Fellows Residency, and New Play Development Pipeline.