The Old Globe Launches The Inaugural Powers Playwriting Fellowship

The Old Globe is launching the inaugural Powers Playwriting Fellowship, a new program committed to supporting playwrights, fostering relationships and collaborations, and establishing The Old Globe as a center for the creation of new plays. The Fellowship is generously funded by Paula and Brian Powers and will be managed by The Old Globe's New Plays and Dramaturgy Department under the direction of its Director of New Plays and Dramaturgy Danielle Mages Amato. In its first iteration, the nominated and selected Fellows for the 2024 cohort are Mathilde Dratwa, Nimisha Ladva, and Seayoung Yim.

The Powers Playwriting Fellowship provides a unique opportunity for three playwrights to spend 18 months in collaboration with The Old Globe. The $20,000 Fellowship allows the writers to work on a project of their choosing, spend time in San Diego to write and research, and meet regularly with the artistic staff of the Globe. The Fellowship will culminate in a workshop and a publicly streamed presentation of the playwright's Fellowship project. For this inaugural round of the Fellowship, writers were chosen from nominations by playwrights who have previously participated in the Powers New Voices Festival. The Fellowship represents a broadening of the Globe's new play infrastructure, as well as a desire to support playwrights in process in a more robust way.

"Thanks to the generosity of Paula and Brian Powers, The Old Globe is uniquely positioned to launch new programs and support playwrights more deeply than ever," said Danielle Mages Amato. "Over the past year, Literary Associate Sonia Desai and I have been in conversation with many writers about what kind of support structures feel urgent at this time, and we are excited to announce this program, which we developed in direct response to those conversations. The Powers Playwriting Fellowship is designed to support process and create community among its cohort, which includes three dynamic, thoughtful, and talented writers whose voices move us and thrill us."

Potential fellows for the inaugural Powers Playwriting Fellowship were nominated by the network of playwrights who participated in the first 10 years of the Globe's annual Powers New Voices Festival, and the finalists were chosen by the Globe's artistic staff and resident artists. The 18-month fellowship for Mathilde Dratwa, Nimisha Ladva, and Seayoung Yim was effective on January 1, 2024.

Mathilde Dratwa

Mathilde Dratwa's plays include Milk and Gall (Theatre503), A Play about David Mamet Writing a Play about Harvey Weinstein, Esther Perel Ruined My Life, and Dirty Laundry (Audible; Henley Rose Award). Her work has been developed and presented by the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, the Playwrights' Center, the Ojai Playwrights Conference, Rattlestick, LAByrinth, and the Young Vic. Mathilde was a member of the Orchard Project's Greenhouse, a Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow and a member of New York Foundation for the Arts' Immigrant Artist Program. She has written for FX, Netflix, Chernin Entertainment, LuckyChap, Endeavor, Dirty Films, Red Wagon, Sony/TriStar and Wiip.

Nimisha Ladva Goddess at The Lucky Lady Motel: Playwright's Realm, ScratchPad Reading, 2024; PlayPenn New Play Conference Reading, 2022; Finalist, Jane Chambers Prize for Feminist Playwriting, Finalist, Pittsburgh New Play Festival, 2023; The Bechdel Group, "Sunday Shorts," 2022, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, 2021. Uninvited: Women in Theater Festival, New York, 2018; First Person Arts Festival, Philadelphia, 2016. Laundry is Not Enough: Finalist, Red Bull Theater, 2022, Philadelphia Artists Collective, 2021. Shanti at Peace, Philadelphia Women in Theater Festival, 2021. SPACE at Ryder Farm finalist, 2020. Leeway Foundation Award (2016, 2022), Mellon Foundation award (2018). The Kennedy Center Playwriting Fellowship, 2019.

Seayoung Yim

Seayoung Yim (she/her) is a writer/educator. Honors include: the 2022 Yale Drama Series Prize, Woolly Mammoth X Black List Playwriting Commission, a Hedgebrook residency, Playwriting Fellow at Sewanee Writers' Conference, Stephen Sondheim Graduate Fellowship (Brown University), People's Choice Award for Outstanding New Play (Gregory Awards), Rose Lee Award for Excellence in Local Playwriting, and second place for the Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award (KCACTF). Her work has been supported by Ma-Yi Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Annex Theater, Cafe Nordo, SIS Productions, Pork Filled Productions, Theater Off Jackson, and others. She currently teaches playwriting at the RISD. MFA: Brown University.

The nominating circle for the 2026 Powers Playwriting Fellowship will be announced in 2025.

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