Fifteen Artists Selected for WP Theater 2022-2024 'PIPELINE' Lab

WP THEATER has announced the fifteen artists selected for the 2022-2024 WP Lab. The two-year residency begins now, and culminates with the biennial WP Pipeline Festival in 2024.

The artistic heart of WP Theater, the two-year Lab residency provides rising stars in the industry with a vital professional network, entrepreneurial and leadership training, rehearsal space, and most significantly, tangible opportunities for the development and production of bold new work for the stage. As the culmination of the Lab, the Pipeline Festival presents a unique opportunity for audiences and industry to access five new plays at various stages of development, ranging from staged readings to full-length workshop productions. True to its name, the WP Pipeline Festival serves as a pipeline to funnel talented Women+ artists and their work to the forefront of American theater.

The 2022-2024 WP Lab artists are:

PLAYWRIGHTS: Amara Janae Brady (she/her), Christin Eve Cato (she/her), Queen Esther (she/her), Amina Henry (she/her), Else Went (they/she)

DIRECTORS: Jordana De La Cruz (she/they), Onyekachi Iwu (she/her), Julia Sirna-Frest (she/her), Dina Vovsi (she/her), Ran Xia (she/her)

PRODUCERS: Alverneq Lindsay (she/her), Emma Orme (she/her), Sami Pyne (she/her), Barbara Samuels (she/her), Praycious Wilson-Gay (she/her)

The WP Playwrights Lab is led by WP Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and award-winning Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence Cori Thomas; the Directors Lab is led by Rebecca Martinez (Lab Alum; WP Associate Artistic Director), and Nicole A. Watson (Lab Alum; Bold Associate Artistic Director, McCarter Theatre Center); and the Producers Lab is led by Nidia Medina (Lab Alum, Producing Director, The Team), and two-time Tony Award-winning producer Sally Cade Holmes (Lab Alum; Hadestown).

Following the shift to a virtual Pipeline Festival in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 Pipeline Festival returned to an in-person festival and featured:

• THEY CAME IN THE NIGHT, written by Zizi Majid, directed by Carolyn Cantor, and produced and dramaturged by Kristin Leahey.
• ROOM ENOUGH (FOR US ALL), written by Daamiah Mubashshir, directed by Katherine Wilkinson, and produced by Ayana Parker Morrison.
• KIN, written by Gethsemane Herron-Coward, directed by Chika Ike, and produced by Cynthia J. Tong
• PLURAL (LOVE), written by and featuring Haruna Lee and Jen Goma, directed by Sophiyaa Nayar and produced by B.J. Evans.
• RE/MEMORI (Of Hair Land & Sea) - Working Title, written by Nambi E. Kelley, directed by Machel Ross and produced by Iyvon E.

The 2020 #PipelineOnline Festival celebrated work from writers Vanessa Garcia, Sukari Jones, C. Quintana (CQ), Charly Evon Simpson, Bryna Turner, directors Victoria Collado, Sarah Hughes, Candis C. Jones, Rebecca Martinez, Arpita Mukherjee, and producers Ilana Becker, Marie Cisco, Lucy Jackson, Stephanie Rolland, Alyssa Simmons.

The 2018 Pipeline Festival featured work from writers Donnetta Lavinia Grays, MJ Kaufman, Sylvia Khoury, Zoe Sarnak, Leah Nanako Winkler, directors Melissa Crespo, Morgan Gould, Ellie Heyman, Tyne Rafaeli, Mo Zhou, and producers Roxanna Barrios, Sally Cade Holmes, Nidia Medina, Laura Ramadei, and Yuvika Tolani.

Four of the five plays in the inaugural 2016 Pipeline Festival were included in the 2016 Kilroys List, an annual industry survey of extraordinary new plays by female and trans playwrights: Cygnus by Susan Soon He Stanton; Kings by Sarah Burgess; The Rug Dealer by Riti Sachdeva; and queens by Martyna Majok. Work from the Pipeline Festival regularly goes on to production at major theaters in New York and beyond, including: Kings by Sarah Burgess (Pipeline 2016) at The Public Theater, queens by Martyna Majok (Pipeline 2016) Power Strip by Sylvia Khoury (Pipeline 2018) at Lincoln Center Theater. WP proudly partnered with Vineyard Theater to present Charly Evon Simpson's play sandblasted (Pipeline 2020) during their '21-22 Season.

ABOUT WP THEATER

(WP Theater (Lisa McNulty, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Sag, Managing Director), now in its 45th Season, is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of Women+ at every stage of their careers. For over four decades, WP has served as leaders of a global movement towards gender parity - and the artists fostered have grown into a robust, thriving community in theater and beyond. WP empowers Women+ artists of all kinds to reach their full potential, challenging preconceptions about the kinds of plays they write and the stories they tell.

Founded in 1978 by Julia Miles as Women's Project Theater, WP Theater has earned acclaim as a home for Women+ theatermakers, historically marginalized in the field, to hone their craft while becoming leaders, change-makers, and advocates in the industry. To date, the company has produced more than 600 Mainstage productions and developmental projects and published 11 anthologies of plays by Women+ artists, and continues to forge forward in making a difference in the artistic landscape of New York and beyond, by offering these artists a platform to develop and present their stories.

Today, WP accomplishes its mission through several fundamental programs, including: the WP Lab, a celebrated two-year mentorship and new play development program for Women+ playwrights, directors, and producers; the Domestic Partner residency program; the Developmental series of workshops and readings; the Commissioning program, and the Mainstage series, which features a full season of Off-Broadway productions written and directed by extraordinary theater artists. Current artists under commission are: Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Emily Kaczmarek, MJ Kaufman, Sylvia Khoury, Zoe Sarnak, and Leah Nanako Winkler.

WP Theater received a Lucille Lortel Award and an Obie Award, both for Outstanding Body of Work; and a 2020 Special Drama Desk Award recognizing WP and its founder, Julia Miles. As the premier launching pad for some of the most influential artists in theater, television, and film, WP's work has a significant impact on the field. Nearly every notable female theater artist has been through its doors, including: 2019 Tony Winner Rachel Chavkin; two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage, 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winner Martyna Majok; MacArthur "Genius" Grant Winner & Tony Award Nominee Dominique Morisseau; Tony Winner Pam MacKinnon; and Tony Winner Diane Paulus. At WP, these powerful women found an early artistic home and are a testament to the organization's role as a driving cultural force.

*When we say Women+, we mean people who are cis women, trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming people, and all gender identities which have been systematically oppressed throughout history in the theater and beyond.

For more information visit: WWW.WPTHEATER.ORG

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