Center Theatre Group's L.A. Writers' Workshop Selects New Cohort

Since 2005, more than 100 playwrights have had their work fostered through Center Theatre Group's L.A. Writers' Workshop and more are set to join. This new cohort for the L.A. Writers' Workshop includes six local playwrights who will spend a year researching and writing a new work with the feedback of their fellow writers and Center Theatre Group's artistic staff. These playwrights are Amy Berryman, Inda Craig-Galván, Isaac Gómez, Ramiz Monsef, christopher oscar peña, and Jasmine Sharma.

"The creation and sharing of dramatic stories is the heart of Center Theatre Group's mission. Our L.A. Writers' Workshop is one of the most exciting ways we celebrate Los Angeles' cultural vibrancy, rich diversity, and irrepressible narrative impulse," said Center Theatre Group Associate Artistic Director Neel Keller. "Each year the Workshop brings a talented group of local writers into close collaboration with Center Theatre Group. That interaction always sparks the birth of wonderful new plays and reenergizes the creative force of the organization."

The L.A. Writers' Workshop is designed to foster important voices, inspire playwrights to create their best work, encourage bold writing, and build relationships among local playwrights, Center Theatre Group, and the L.A. theatre community.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles' leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, and in collaboration with the four Associate Artistic Directors, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller, and Kelley Kirkpatrick, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation's leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Amy Berryman (she/her) is a playwright, screenwriter, actor, and teaching artist originally from Seattle by way of West Texas. Her play "Walden," produced by Sonia Friedman and directed by Ian Rickson, premiered on London's West End in May 2021. "Walden" was also produced at TheaterWorks in Hartford in August 2021, directed by Mei Ann Teo, and received a New York Times Critic's Pick. Other full-length plays include "The New Galileos" (O'Neill Finalist 2019); "Three Year Summer;" and "Epiphany, Or What Would You?" (finalist for Shakespeare's New Contemporaries, O'Neill Semi-Finalist 2020). Her work has been developed at Premiere Stages, Kitchen Dog, Caltech, East 15, Portland Stage, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and AMiOS, among others. Amy has recently received a commission from Manhattan Theatre Club and is developing her pilot, "Abstinence Only," with Phenomenal Content. amy-berryman.com

Jasmine Sharma (she/her) is a South Asian-American actor/writer/activist based in Los Angeles. She aims to focus her work at the intersection of race, femininity, and Americanness. Bonus points if it's community driven. And if we're paying everybody. Plays include the recent world premiere of "Radial Gradient" at Shattered Globe Theatre, "For Your Consideration" produced by Moxie Arts NYC, "VIRGINS: A Madonna Bootcamp" produced by Jackalope Theatre Company, "Showtime, Auntie" written for APIDA at Goodman Theatre, "Kids Club/Club Kids" written for SERIALS by The Fled Collective, "Gut Punch" commissioned by AlterTheater Ensemble, "Cancelled/Cancel Me" supported by Ashland New Plays Festival New Voices, among others. Recent acting credits include "Calvin Berger" (The Colony Theatre), "Wives" (Aurora Theatre Company) and "The Wolves" (McCarter Theatre Center). Jasmine has contributed to @iWeigh, worked with the @24HourPlays as an actor and a writer, and sometimes, script PAs Broadway musicals. 2022-2023 Reel Sisters Fellow, currently in pre-production for "CCC" releasing Fall 2023, developing "PEACHY: a sorta chekhovian traumedy" with The IAMA Emerging Playwrights Lab 2023, and developing "THE JAZMINES: a rage play - and for legal reasons, a parody" with The Multi-Gen: New Works Lab by Moxie Arts x The Entertainment Community Fund. Jasmine is thrilled to be part of the 2023-2024 Center Theatre Group L.A. Writers' Workshop. Northwestern University. jasminesharma.org | @jasminesharmaa

Inda Craig-Galván (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based writer. Her work often explores conflicts and politics within the African American community, grounded in reality, and with a touch of magical realism. Her plays include "The Great Jheri Curl Debate" (East West Players world premiere), "a hit dog will holler" (Playwrights' Arena/Skylight Theatre Company world premiere co-production), "Black Super Hero Magic Mama" (Geffen Playhouse world premiere), "A Jumping-Off Point" which will have its world premiere at Round House Theatre in 2024, and "Welcome to Matteson!" which will have a rolling world premiere at New Jersey Rep, Congo Square, and Orlando Shakes beginning September 2023. Inda will soon begin season two of ABC's "Will Trent" as co-executive producer. MFA in Dramatic Writing, University of Southern California.

Ramiz Monsef (he/him) is an alumni of The EPG at Circle X as well as The Writers' Room at The Geffen Playhouse, where his play "The Ants" was developed, and will be produced later this year. It also was developed at The Ojai Playwrights Conference in 2021. Ramiz is co-author of the musical "The Unfortunates" produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and ACT in San Francisco. He wrote that show's accompanying graphic novel which featured artwork by Guggenheim Fellow, Daniel Duford, as well. He also co-wrote "The Many Deaths of Nathan Stubblefield," which premiered in the 2017 Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville. His play "3 Farids" was part of The Bushwick Starr reading series and selected to be in the New Works Festival at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, the DNA New Work Series at La Jolla Playhouse, and at Playwrights Horizons. Ramiz is an actor and has appeared in major theatres across the country, most recently playing the title role in Rajiv Joseph's "Letters of Suresh" Off-Broadway at SecondStage, numerous television series including "NCIS," "SWAT," "SEAL Team," "Kidding," "Shameless," "Modern Family," and "Young Sheldon." He is also in the film "SYNCHRONIC."

christopher oscar peña's (he/him) plays include "the strangers," which was commissioned and had its world premiere by the Clarence Brown Theatre. In New York, the Flea Theatre produced the world premiere of his play "a cautionary tail." He collaborated with actress Solea Pfeiffer on her solo show "You Are Here," which was commissioned by Audible, and played to sold out acclaim at the Minetta Lane Theatre Off-Broadway and is now available on Audible. His play "how to make an American Son" was commissioned by Yale Rep and had its world premiere at Arizona Theatre Company. For the next two years, Profile Theatre in Portland, Oregon, will produce a season of his work: the second production of "how to make an American Son," the world premiere of his Goodman Theatre commissioned play "awe/struck," and the world premiere of a new Profile Theatre commission. In television, he was a writer on the Golden Globe nominated debut season of the CW show "Jane the Virgin," the critically acclaimed HBO show "Insecure" (in which he also appeared as the character Gary), as well as the Starz show "Sweetbitter," "Motherland: Fort Salem" on Freeform, and the ABC / Hulu series "Promised Land." He produced the BET+ holiday film "A Jenkins Family Christmas" and co-wrote last year's BET+ holiday film "The Cookoff." He is currently developing original series for HBO (with filmmaker Crystal Moselle and artist Derrick B. Harden), and STX (with Omar Sharif Jr.). He received his BA from UC Santa Barbara and his MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Isaac Gómez (they/them) is an award-winning Chicago and Los Angeles based playwright and screenwriter originally from El Paso, Texas/Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. They identify as na'wi-the third gender marker of the Rarámuri, a Mexican indigenous community in northern Chihuahua, of which they're a direct descendent. They're currently under commission with LCT3, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and IAMA Theatre Company. Their plays have been produced by Audible Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Primary Stages, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theatre, The Alley Theatre, Seattle Rep, and many others. Their television credits include the Netflix Original Series "Narcos: Mexico," the upcoming Apple TV+ Limited Series "The Last Thing He Told Me," the second season of Paramount TV+'s "Joe Picket," amongst others. They currently have a series in development with Stacey Sher and FX as well as a full-length feature in development with Focus Features.

To post a comment, you must register and login.