Clubbed Thumb Announces New Directing Fellowship

Five time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb has launched a new artistic program aimed at supporting the development of early-career directors. The new directing fellowship is under the mentorship of Obie Award-winning directors and Clubbed Thumb affiliated artists Anne Kauffman (Belleville; Detroit; Clubbed Thumb's Dot, among others) and Ken Rus Schmoll (The Invisible Hand, Iowa, Clubbed Thumb's Card and Gift, among others). The program will be run in partnership with Playwrights Horizons Theater School, where Clubbed Thumb is currently in residence.

"There is an elusive moment in a young director's career where her actual work needs to get seen by Artistic Directors and/or playwrights in order to be hired to direct a production," says Anne Kauffman. "Only a handful of programs in this city provide support for young directors, and there are even fewer that get the directors' work seen by professionals who are in a position to hire."

"We are interested in widening the support for this particular step in a director's journey and helping to kickstart real working relationships in the business," adds Ken Rus Schmoll.

"We love that Clubbed Thumb is responding to the need for directors to have space and time to practice their craft and to show their work," says Megan Carter of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF). "Because a director's art is so ephemeral-there is no object to be submitted and passed around-initiatives like this are essential and will help to invigorate the form. SDCF is proud to endorse this endeavor."

The fellowship began in September 2015 and will culminate at the end of January 2016. Over the course of the fall, four early-career directors will work on new plays by Clubbed Thumb alumni playwrights, with Playwrights Horizons Theater School student and alumni actors. In January, the directors will build on their work, directing professional actors in the same plays. There will be a limited number of public performances, with the goal of presenting the directors' work to industry professionals.

The inaugural directors are Sanaz Ghajarrahimi, directing Peggy Stafford's What Once; Lillian Meredith, directing Ethan Lipton's The Farmer and the Barber; Jay Stull directing Jenny Schwartz's As Far as the Day Goes; and Kate Hopkins, directing Kate E. Ryan's The Pool Skimmer.

Public showings of their work will be presented at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street) on Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23 at 8pm; Sunday, January 24 at 4pm and 8pm; and Monday, January 25 at 3pm. Tickets are free but reservations must be made in advance by emailing ellie@clubbedthumb.org.

This initiative is made possible by the generous support of The New York Community Trust, piece by piece productions, Jody Falco & Jeffrey Steinman and The Playwrights Horizons Theater School.

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