WP Theater Unveils 2024-2026 Lab Artists
The two-year Lab residency provides rising talents in the industry with a vital professional network, entrepreneurial and leadership training, and more.
WP THEATER has revealed the 15 artists selected for the 2024-2026 WP Lab. The two-year residency begins this fall and culminates with the biennial WP Pipeline Festival.
The lab is:
PLAYWRIGHTS: Mukta Phatak, Jordan Ramirez-Puckett, Deneen Reynolds-Knott, Amy Staats, Danielle Stagger
DIRECTORS: Kayla Amani, Britt Berke, Susanna Jaramillo, Alex Keegan, Mikhaela Mahony
PRODUCERS: Penzi Hill, Roshni Lavelle, Skye Pagon, Lianna Rada-Hung, Maia Safani
The two-year Lab residency provides rising talents 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. True to its name, the WP Pipeline Festival serves as a pipeline to funnel exceptional Women+ artists and their work to the forefront of American theater.
The WP Playwrights Lab is led by Lab Alum and WP BOLD Associate Artistic Director Kristin Leahey and WP Tow Playwright in Residence Francisca Da Silveira; the Directors Lab is led by Katherine Wilkinson (Lab Alum; Bloom Bloom Pow); and the Producers Lab is facilitated by WP Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Lab Alum and former WP BOLD Associate Artistic Director Ayana Parker Morrison.
The 2024 WP Pipeline Festival, which included five brand new plays written, directed, and produced by the fifteen artists of the 2022-2024 WP Lab. The 2024 Pipeline Festival represented the culmination of a two-year early-career artist residency and featured:
MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE, written by Amara Janae Brady, directed by Julia Sirna-Frest, and composed by Xander Browne (He/They), and produced by Praycious Wilson-Gay.
OK, written by Christin Eve Cato and directed by Jordana De La Cruz, and produced by Barbara Samuels.
BLACKBIRDING, written by Queen Esther and directed by Lorna Ventura, and produced by Alverneq Lindsay.
WHEN THE OTHER MARY CELESTE SANK: A STRANGE AND UMWELTIAN TALE, written by Amina Henry and directed by Ran Xia, and produced by Emma Orme.
THE CAUSE, written by Else Went and directed by Dina Vovsi.
The 2022 Pipeline Festival featured work from writers Gethsemane A Herron-Coward, Nambi E. Kelley, Haruna Lee, Zizi Majid, Daaimah Mubashshir, directors Miranda Haymon, Chika Ike, Sophiyaa Nayar, Machel Ross, Katherine Wilkinson, and producers Iyvon Edebiri, B.J. Evans, Kristin Leahey, Ayana Parker Morrison, Cynthia J. Tong.
The 2020 #PipelineOnline Festival celebrated work from writers Vanessa Garcia, Sukari Jones, Christina Quintana (CQ), Charly Evon Simpson, Bryna Turner, directors Victoria Collado, Sarah Hughes, Candis C. Jones, Rebecca Martínez, 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, SallyCade 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 onto 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), and Power Strip by Sylvia Khoury (Pipeline 2018) at Lincoln Center Theater. WP proudly partnered with Vineyard Theater to present Charly Ivon Simpson’s play sandblasted (Pipeline 2020) during their ‘21-22 Season.
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