The Playwrights Realm launches International Theatermakers Award

The Playwrights Realm today announced details for the inaugural International Theatermakers Award, which the acclaimed company has established with Dyer Harris LLP, a New York law firm whose focus is immigration for creative artists and professionals. International playwrights and theater artists have been and will always be critical to the continued advancement of American theater, yet they face extraordinary challenges: visa and Green Card applications, maintenance of status requirements, and international travel restrictions, to name a few. The new award seeks to offer them clarity, comfort, and support, and to contribute to expanding the plurality of voices in the field.

The International Theatermakers Award program offers:

Free legal assistance from Dyer Harris LLP in applying for an O-1B artist visa (including related filing charges) for up to three international theatermakers, which will be selected by a panel of experts led by The Playwrights Realm. Per the Realm's mission, at least one theatermaker will be a playwright.

Free, public digital panels to demystify U.S. artist visa and Green Card application processes for International Artists and American theatermakers wanting to work with them. April Harris and Kevin Dyer of Dyer Harris LLP and The Playwrights Realm Producing Director Roberta Pereira will participate in the first of these discussions on October 20 at 2pm EST. Anyone can register at www.playwrightsrealm.org/ita; the event will also be recorded and made available online for on-demand viewing.

The Award program is the latest in a series of initiatives The Playwrights Realm has launched to make the American theater more diverse and accessible, including the Radical Parent-Inclusion Project and the Realm's A Ticket for Every Budget program, among others.

Roberta Pereira said, "Our commitment to anti-racism and anti-oppression wouldn't be complete if we didn't acknowledge the invaluable contributions of International Artists to our field and tackle the unique challenges they face to come, stay, and work in this country. As an immigrant myself who spent many years transitioning through different visas, building up my credentials to apply for a Green Card, and constantly incurring significant immigration-related costs, this project is near and dear to my heart. I hope it lightens the burdens of artists and casts a spotlight on the undiscussed issues of working in American theatre without American citizenship, modeling a more welcoming and inclusive industry."

April Harris and Kevin Dyer of Dyer Harris LLP said, "As lawyers, as New Yorkers, and as American citizens, we feel a debt of gratitude to the people who make New York theater the extraordinary world it is, and we are particularly grateful to those who are working to expand the diversity of theater in the United States. As lawyers with years of experience in the field of O-1 petitions, we feel a personal imperative-particularly in light of the unconscionable barrier that visa and green card processes pose to artists and the international dialogue-to contribute to these efforts as best we can."

To confirm award eligibility, applicants must complete the preliminary eligibility survey, open today (October 7), by November 1 at 11:59pm EST. By November 9, up to 75 eligible applicants will be invited to submit a full application (if there are more eligible applicants, 75 will be chosen based on a random lottery). Full applications will be due on December 6. Awardees will be selected by an expert panel led by The Playwrights Realm and will be announced in early February 2021. Additional details can be found at https://playwrightsrealm.org/ita.

The Playwrights Realm recently announced that they are operating full-time as a playwrights service organization for the 2020-21 season. Amidst the pandemic and the wave of protests that have in turn sparked crucial calls for true diversity and accountability in the theater world, the company has taken the initiative to reimagine and expand its missions of centering inclusion and providing its playwrights, who are majority BIPOC, the time and resources to develop new work. Despite the popularity and acclaim of its productions, rather than going the route of creating digital production content, The Realm has decided to focus on helping playwrights maintain their practices with creative and financial support. Funds that were earmarked for production this season are instead being used for playwright services, structured around the needs expressed by The Realm's playwrights.

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