Recipients Revealed for Julia Miles Playwriting Residency & Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award

WP Theater has named acclaimed playwright Rehana Lew Mirza (Hatef*ck, Bhangra Nation) as the recipient of the Julia Miles Playwriting Residency and magician and comedian Rachel Wax is the winner of the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award.  

WP Theater Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty said, “We couldn't be more grateful to Marya, Lisa, and Daryl for sponsoring these transformative residencies, which provide us with much-needed resource and time with these incredible artists.  We can't wait to spend the year to come with Rehana and Rachel, and look forward to all the brilliance they'll share during their residency.  It's also so meaningful to me that these residencies each honor a game-changing woman in the field–we so love celebrating Julia and Daryl in this artist-forward way!”

The Julia Miles Playwriting Residency was created in 2023 by WP Theater Founder Julia Miles' daughters Marya Cohn and Lisa Miles, to honor their mother's legacy of advocacy for women artists, by funding an annual commission and residency for a Woman+ writer over 35 years old, at the theater she founded in 1978.

The Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, presented annually, honors a gifted theatre artist, and provides them with support as they develop new work in an artistic residency at a theater company. Wax's residency will be with WP Theater and will be shaped in collaboration with its Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty. WP will provide a place to work, allowing Wax to interact and become part of the life of the company. The inaugural creative spirit award was given to Michael Mayer in 1996' and has been granted annually since then.

 
ABOUT Rehana Lew Mirza  

Rehana is thrilled to be the Julia Miles Playwriting Residency recipient with WP, where her play Hatef*ck world-premiered (with Colt Coeur) in 2019. The play later received a Bret Adams grant and premiered in Chicago with First Floor in 2023. She recently held a prestigious National Playwrights Mellon residency at Ma-Yi Theatre in New York from 2016-2022, after also being a playwright in residence at La Jolla Playhouse, where her musical Bhangin' It (now Bhangra Nation) (2019 Richard Rodgers Award) premiered in 2022. It recently had its UK premiere at Birmingham Rep in Feb of 2024. Awards/Honors include a Kleban award, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor Residency, Cape Cod Theatre Artist in Residence, NYFA Artist Fellow, Tofte Lake Residency, Colt Coeur Company Member, TCG Fellowship with New Georges and an HBOAccess Writing Fellow. She has an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University and a BFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. 

 

ABOUT Rachel Wax  

One of the most in demand magicians in New York, Rachel brings her quick wit and signature comedy style to every performance. Those who've seen her perform know she leaves her audiences laughing and in awe. She is regularly featured at New York's hottest venues, and has brought her craft all across the country. Her engaging and personal brand of comedy magic has been featured on Penn and Teller's Fool Us and in the New York Times. Rachel will be the life of your party, delighting and roasting her audiences every chance she gets.

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