A Voice for Artists

New Ohio Theatre & TÉA ARTISTRY BEING CHAKA

New Ohio Theatre & TÉA ARTISTRY
BEING CHAKA
an Archive Residency premiere
in partnership with IRT Theatre
May 6 – 27
Tickets $25

Written by Tara Amber, Chuk Obasi, & Nalini Sharma
Directed by Vieve Radha Price & Chuk Obasi
Developed by Chuk Obasi, Vieve Radha Price, Tara Amber, Nalini Sharma & Talya Mar
Stage Managers Leslie Huynh & Ricky Brown
Featuring Tara Amber, Joey Brenneman, Colin DePaula*, Annie Hartkemeyer, LaWanda
Hopkins*, Jae Jackson, Joy Kelly*, Amanda Marikar, Chuck Montgomery*, Kahiem Rivera & Miriam Tabb.

Being Chaka is a genre-bending ensemble piece where worlds collide at an elite private school in NYC. It’s a coming of age story where characters struggle with defining who they are within a system steeped in racism, and, who they could be if they could transcend those limitations.

Tickets and Info

*these Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

In Scena! Italian Theater Festival Announces Collaboration with the Hystrio Award-Scritture di Scena

The In Scena! Italian Theater Festival will collaborate with the Hystrio Award – Scritture di Scena, one of the most prestigious theater awards in Italy. Since 2020, In Scena! awarded an Italian playwright, who then travels to New York to work with a local playwright and a translator on the English adaptation of their play. During the 2023 edition of In Scena! The Festival will welcome two playwrights, winners of the special mention in the 2020 and the 2021 edition. The award-winning writers will be mentored by Italian-American playwrights. following the combined project of Kairos Italy theater and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ to give more visibility to Italian-American playwrights.

Thanks to the international partnership between the Hystrio Award and In Scena!, two playwrights will be welcomed to New York in 2023. Giulia Trivero with her play Edera and Giorgio BR Franchi with his play Amazon Crime, are the respective winners of the 2021 and 2022 Hystrio Award – Scritture di Scena, special mention “In Scena!”. Playwright Giulia Trivero’s will be mentored by Joey Merlo. Playwright Frank J. Avella will mentor Giorgio BR Franchi’s. The English Translator for both plays is Giulia Cowie.

Giulia Trivero (Playwright) is an actress and author; in 2019 she graduated from the School “I. Gazzerro” of ERT Foundation, where she worked in the following years as an actress and cultural operator. She is part of the cast of, among others, Commedia della vanità (directed by C. Longhi), Nozze (directed by L. Guanciale), Elettra (directed by L. Ferlazzo Natoli). She is currently working with Davide Carnevali for the project Il teatro holds counter at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. Her text Edera in 2021 won the Scritture di Scena, special mention “In Scena!” edition 2021 and is a finalist in the 56th edition of the Riccione “Pier Vittorio Tondelli” Award.

Joey Merlo (Mentor) is a 2019 New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellow, NYU Film Lab alum and a former Playwright-in-Residence at the Off-Broadway Abingdon Theatre Company. He is the Artistic Director of Wolfpack Theatrics which co-produced a critically acclaimed production of A Streetcar Named Desire, making history by featuring Ell Peck, the first trans actor in the iconic role of Blanche DuBois. Joey is a Bushwick based playwright and artist who has worked all over the world including Ghana (where he made a documentary on the underground queer community in Accra), Greece and Peru. Produced work includes: Love of Men Ferocious (NYU, TIsch / O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference Semi-finalist), The Witch of St. Elmora Street (Dixon Place / Access Theatre), This Boy Cometh to the Mountain (Rough Draft Festival), Athens on the Half Shell (LPAC). Joey holds a BFA from NYU, Tisch’s Experimental Theater Wing and an MFA from Brooklyn College.

Giorgio BR Franchi (Playwright) graduated in drama from the Paolo Grassi Civic School of Theater in 2020. Tragi-comic and political author, he participates in various festivals including I request Artistic Asylum, Ultima Luna d’Estate and Dominio Pubblico (Teatro India – Teatro di Roma), which will then select his show All you can Hitler for the Generazione Risonanze project. He won the La Scena Nuova drama award and made it to the finals of various competitions, including Shakespeare Is Now, Hystrio – Scritture di Scena (with the text Hate Party!), the Mario Fratti Award (with The best of possible worlds) and Premio Emanuele Carboni (with The anti-drug nun). At the age of 23 he signed his first direction in Barbara Villa’s monologue The myth of beauty, of which he is also the author, for the Inventaria festival. Two months later, in December 2021, his acting debut took place in Superheliogabalus (text BR Franchi / N. Fettarappa) at the Teatro Trastevere in Rome.

Frank J. Avella (Mentor) is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright and the recipient of a 2023 & 2019 International Writers Residency at Arte Studio Ginestrelle (Assisi, Italy) and a 2018 Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship. He recently wrote and directed his first film, FIG JAM, which won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the 2021 Paris Independent Film Festival as well as 30 other accolades at festivals worldwide. Recently produced plays include LURED and VATICAN FALLS, both O’Neill semifinalists. Frank has written over two dozen full-length plays and 7 award-winning screenplays, including CONSENT and HAPPY BOY. He is currently working on a highly personal project about the queer Italian and Italian-American experience. Frank is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

In its 12th year, the Hystrio Award-Scritture di Scena Award is open to all Italian-speaking authors wherever resident within the age of 35, and assigns one prize and five special mentions. The Award is presented by Hystrio, one of the major theater magazines in Italy, awarding every year established theater artists as well as young talents, with the aim to give educational support to the first and visibility to the latter. The Hystrio Award is organized in four sessions, respectively awarding actors under 30 years old (Premio Hystrio alla Vocazione), playwright under 35 years old (Premio Hystrio – Scritture di Scena) and established artists (Premio Hystrio).

The Hystrio Award-Scritture di Scena, special mention “In Scena!” brings the winning playwright to New York to work with an Italian-American playwright and a translator on the play. The mentorship program lasts about ten days and is meant to produce the translation of the play and test it in an informal reading in front of an audience. The program is part of Translating Talents, a series that KIT Italia and Kairos Italy Theater started in 2019 focused on contemporary theater translation.

In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY In 2013 Kairos Italy Theater, the preeminent Italian theater company in New York City, together with the Italian KIT Italia, created In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, the first Italian theater festival to take place in all five New York City boroughs and beyond. The festival’s first edition was part of the 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States and it was supported by the Embassy of Italy in DC and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU that became right after one of the organizers. The festival has since become an annual event. www.inscenany.com

FRIGID New York presents the 2023 Queerly Festival

Les Kurkendaal Barrett in The Real Black Swan

FRIGID New York will present the 9th annual Queerly Festival at The Kraine Theater (85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009), June 15-July 3. Most performances will also be available to livestream from home. Tickets ($25 in-person; $20 streaming) are available for advance purchase at www.frigid.nyc.

Founded in 2014, Queerly is FRIGID New York’s annual celebration of LGBTQA+ artists. Queerly strives for diversity on and off stage, seeking out queer teams and artists of all kinds as well as a wide range of shows and performances. Our goal is to provide a space for queer artists who’ve rarely or never seen their identities portrayed on stage to be able to represent themselves and tell their stories their way, as well as to provide a space for queer celebration, pride, and strength.

“Queerly is a place for self-representation, for telling the stories we want to tell, and for sharing our work with our community and beyond,” said Jimmy Lovett, Co-Artisitc Director of FRIGID New York and curator of the Queerly Festival. “Regardless of how a piece makes us feel, there is joy in artistic creation and, as we raise our heads in defiance of those who would dehumanize us, queer joy is an act of rebellion. Queerly is a place for that rebellion. This year, in light of the barrage of anti-trans legislation across the country, we are prioritizing work by or featuring trans artists, and amplifying trans voices, trans joy, and trans rebellion.”

A Probably Disastrous Experiment
Written by Rachel Weekley
Up from the Depths, disaster strikes again! And it just might be this show in which cities are destroyed, inner Demons hold hands, and a dinosaur dances through heartbreak.

Anna May Wong: PERSONA
Written by Kai Xing Mun
A woman ahead of her time; Anna May Wong was Hollywood’s first Chinese American movie star. For all her talent, wit, and charm, she’s spent her life searching for a place to belong. She was discriminated against by American society for her race, and demeaned by her family for her dreams. It seemed the only place where she was beyond her circumstances was in the magical world of film, if only Hollywood could’ve seen her beyond racist stereotypes and caricatures. From rumored sapphic romances to traveling different countries to lifelong friendships with fellow legendary artists, Anna will defy all the odds as she devotes herself to her craft. Only one question remains: will there ever be a place where she can be seen as human?

At Birth
Written by Ty Autry & Thalia Gonzalez Kane
What could possibly go wrong when one drunken night Anna, very gay, and Isaac, very very gay, have sex to heal from a breakup? What follows is a journey covering themes of queer families, abortion rights in the South, and the pursuit of building community, no matter how untypical. This queer dark comedy navigates blurred family lines, friendship, and dealing with the unexpected consequences life can throw at a person.

BECOMING AUSTIN NATION: From Crack to PhD – One Drag Queen’s Story
Written & Performed by Austin Nation
Becoming Austin Nation is the autobiography of a life that changed dramatically once I was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1986, at the mere age of 26, when few men were getting out alive. I was told to get my affairs in order. There was no hope. I lived as though each day was going to be my last. I lost all of my closest friends over a 6-month period in 1994. I knew my time had to be near. Drugs and alcohol became my best friends and I began playing around in drag as part of my experience while getting high. I could pretend to be someone else, someone beautiful.
Fast forward, and I was still alive at 40. I thought there must be something else for me and that began my journey into recovery. Today, I am 19 years clean and sober. I have tapped back into an important part of myself: this drag persona, my feminine side. Now, at age 60, I am without a doubt living my best Black gay drag life.

The Bottom’s Bible
Written & Performed by Adin Lenahan
A two person show starring me and my asshole, about bottom and femme erasure in queer culture, and a two-thousand year old book that still controls our narrative.

Drag Sings
Hosted by Sam Kaseta
Did you know that the New York City drag community comprises not just an amazing array of drag artists, but also many performers who also compose music? Drag Sings will be a cabaret of singer-songwriters performing their own work in drag. Come see both Queerly alums and new faces as this celebration of both original drag and original music.

Drag Story Hour
FRIGID New York is excited to host a special Juneteenth addition of Drag Story Hour! Drag Story Hour NYC (formerly Drag Queen Story Hour NYC) produces storytelling and creative arts programs for children and teens, presented by local drag artists, in libraries, schools, and other community spaces in all five boroughs of New York City, and virtually. Through fun and fabulous educational experiences, our programs celebrate gender diversity and all forms of difference to build empathy and give kids the confidence to express themselves however they feel comfortable.

Funny Women Of A Certain Age
Curated by Carol Montgomery
What began as a way to work with her friends has exploded on the comedy scene. When Carole (a veteran of the stand up scene for over 40 years) started, you would never see two female comics on the same show. Fast forward to today’s comedy scene and nothing has changed, even though there are way more women in comedy. Carole decided to do something about it. Her first Showtime special made history as the only comedy special to feature 6 female comics over the age of 50. In fact it was the network’s highest rated comedy special of 2019.

Paper Kraine Presents: Do You Queer What I Queer
We’re back for a sixth season of new works in development! The Paper Kraine was created in 2016 to bring together works in their earliest stages, audiences, and nonprofits. Monthly, the PK team curates a new works sampler platter around a theme related to a nonprofit. This month, all PK ticket proceeds and a passed hat go to support the work of the Ali Forney Center, which offers LGBTQ+ Youth Shelter and Services. Try something new, delicious and strange. Come for the art. Stay for the community.

The Parentheses
Written by Marissa Fleming
Sometimes we’re looking for an explanation, tacking on afterthought, enriching what is already complete with a pair of rounded brackets. The Parentheses is a play about two women reconnecting and re-examining their relationship to one another. Already wholly complete and complex on their own, they look to explain, to explore, and to experience one evening together in an attempt to understand what they really mean to themselves and to each other.

The Real Black Swan
Written & Performed by Les Kurkendaal Barrett
This show tells the story of William Dorsey Swann, the former slave who became the Queen of Drag in Washington DC in the late 1800’s. She was also the first queer activist on record. Come and hear the tale of a person who was way ahead of their time. Winner of the Doric Wilson Award in Dublin Ireland, Winner of The Cincy Fringe Encore (Producer’s Pick).

Transhumance
Written & Performed by Ania Upstill
Witness one clown’s lighthearted confusion with gender in Transhumance. Award-winning clown Ania Upstill playfully explores what it means to be a trans human—or any human—in a society where the gender binary often blocks us from the richness of human experience. Winner of a Best Weekly Award for Circus and Physical Theatre at Adelaide Fringe in 2020.

Two Foreskins Walk into a Bar
Written by Chris Thompson
With his 10-year relationship at an end and his career going down the toilet, loser British playwright Chris Thompson heads to New York City where he embarks on a journey of sexual liberation and self discovery. But as he searches for connection, he faces up to the harsh realities of city life and the limitations of his own desires. An unflinching and hilarious account of starting your life again when you’re a bottom who has hit rock bottom. Award winning playwright and screenwriter, Chris Thompson, brings his five star hit podcast to theatrical life in this laugh out loud, life affirming show.

walkOver
Written by Elena Freck
As a teenager, Martin was the first openly trans gymnast to make the U.S. Men’s Artistic Gymnastics team. Now, he’s a broke 25-year-old with no prospects, about to be evicted from his apartment. Torn between the examples of two friends–En, a fellow trans gymnast who has carved out a second career in sports writing, and Jenna, a high school teacher who never left her hometown—Martin must pick a new direction in life after arriving at the end of the only road he ever knew. walkOver asks the question; where do you go next once you’ve completed the first line of your obituary?

FRIGID New York’s mission is to provide both emerging and established artists the opportunity to create and produce original work of varied content, form, and style, and to amplify their diverse voices. We do this by presenting an array of monthly programming, mainstage productions, an artist residency, and eight annual theater festivals that create an environment of collaboration, resourcefulness, and innovation. Founded in 1998, the aim was and is to form a structure, allowing multiple artists to focus on creating and staging new work and providing affordable rental space to scores of independent artists. Now in our third decade we have produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. www.frigid.nyc

SCIALLI PRODUCTIONS Proudly Presents the World Premiere of MAGIC BOX

SCIALLI PRODUCTIONS Proudly Presents the World Premiere of MAGIC BOX

Five magicians. Five agendas. One magic box. Who will open it?
SCIALLI PRODUCTIONS
Proudly Presents the World Premiere of

MAGIC BOX
Five magicians. Five agendas. One magic box. Who will open it?

Written by TONY SCIALLI

Directed and Choreographed by LIZ PICCOLI

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT – THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY
MAY 19 – 21, 2023 AT THE TRIAD THEATER

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW HERE

https://www.magicboxmusical.com/

SCIALLI PRODUCTIONS is pleased to announce the world premiere production of Tony Scialli’s MAGIC BOX directed and choreographed by Liz Piccoli. MAGIC BOX will play a three-performances-only limited engagement at Off-Broadway’s Triad Theatre (158 West 72nd Street, NYC). Performances are May 19- 20 at 9:30 pm and May 21 at 7 pm. Tickets are $39 with a two drink minimum and are available now at https://www.instantseats.com/?fuseaction=home.venue&artistID=24768&venueID=526.

Five magicians. Five agendas. One magic box. Who will open it in this lively, sexy new musical?

Why did the recently deceased Amazing Jack leave all his magic props to his incompetent apprentice, Charlie? Jack even left Charlie the magic box, a powerful instrument intended for good that has the misfortune of attracting evildoers. Jack’s daughter, Laura, a young but skillful magician, must protect the box from an oversexed witch who refuses to get old and who shares some shocking family secrets.

Laura desperately wants a family or at least a friend. But who can she trust? Armando, her former Latin lover who has been seduced by the dark side? Merlin (no, not that Merlin!), her late father’s best friend? Will Laura find the power to turn the tables or will evil triumph? Where is the magic? Come see Magic Box to find out!

https://www.magicboxmusical.com/

Now Accepting Submissions for Fall Spark Theatre Festival NYC

Submissions Now Open for
Fall Spark Theatre Festival NYC!

Dear Artistic Cohorts,

Our Spring Spark Theatre Festival NYC (formerly known as the New Work Series) recently wrapped up and it was our most successful festival to date. Over three weeks we showcased more than 60 shows, 24 shows sold out and over 3,000 audience members came out to experience new pieces of work. It was an exciting month, and we’re gearing up to do it again!

As we continue to celebrate our 30th anniversary, we are thrilled to announce that submissions are now open for our Fall 2023 Spark Theatre Festival NYC. The deadline to apply is May 31^st. The festival is scheduled to run October 30^th through November 19^th at the 28^th Street Theater (aka TADA Theater) in the Flatiron district.

All the information is below. If you or someone you know has a new work you would like to put up in front of an audience, we hope you will apply.

All the best,
Paul Adams & the Emerging Artists Team

https://emergingartiststheatre.org/submissions

SUBMISSION INFO!

Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) is seeking submissions for their Fall Spark Theatre Festival NYC. The festival is scheduled to run October 30th through November 19th.
Spark Theatre Festival NYC showcases polished works-in-progress. Many of the pieces that are showcased at the festival are being presented in front of an audience for the first time. Each participant is given the option of doing a talkback following their performance, where they are given the chance to ask the audience for feedback on their work.
The deadline for submissions is midnight (EST) May 31, 2023. There are no submission or festival fees, and participants receive a 50/50 box-office split when the audience guarantee is met. Artists who have packed the house have made $300 to $900 for 30 minutes to an hour presentation. All participants must be fully vaccinated.

Application and submission guidelines are available at http://www.emergingartiststheatre.org/submissions.

Applicants must be located in New York and the tri-state area. POC artists and ages 15 to 115 are encouraged to apply.

Submission types:
Plays (60 minutes in length or shorter)
Short and full-length musicals
Solo performance
Dance
Cabaret
Sketch comedy
Jazz
Burlesque
Drag
Variety
Storytelling
Subway musicians/acts
Magic
Out of the box – wow us with something different!
Artists are free to showcase their work, whether it’s a staged reading or an off-book production. Shows run nightly Monday thru Saturday at 7 pm, Friday and Saturday at 9 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm, 5 pm, and 7 pm. Presentation slots are 60 minutes for the 7 pm slots on Friday and Saturday. If you are submitting a short piece, you will be paired with another play or dance piece to create a 60 to 75-minute show slot. Submissions must be a minimum of 5 minutes for dance pieces. Productions will not be accepted if performed two months prior to the Spark Theatre Festival NYC or one month after.

Emerging Artists Theatre provides:
• A 99-seat off-Broadway theater in the heart of Manhattan (please note seating may be reduced due to Covid)
• After the artist minimum is met, artists receive 50% of the box office
• Professional/Equity stage manager and technical staff
• Piano and music stands
• Ticketing services
• Box office and house management
• A projector
• Two dressing rooms
• Curated talkback (where you decide what feedback you need)
• Safe and supportive environment
• Nice, friendly staff
• Simple set pieces available (blocks, tables, chairs, couch)
• One technical rehearsal
• Rep light plot and sound system – typically shows are limited to approx 10 sound and 10 light cues for an hour performance
• Full color program brochures
• Covid protocol managers

The Spark Theatre Fesival NYC is a bi-annual three-week developmental series that provides artists of different disciplines the opportunity to present one night of a “work in progress” with audience feedback. Since its inception in 2006, successful FringeNYC, NYMF, Edinburgh Fringe, and Off-Broadway shows have been born out of this series. Artistic Director Paul Adams and company member Vanessa Shealy serve as curators for the series.

Please feel free to share this call for submissions with your friends and network.

FOUR DYNAMIC NEW ARTISTS JOIN THE ENSEMBLEOF THE INDIE-THEATER STALWART NEW YORK NEO-FUTURISTS

FOUR DYNAMIC NEW ARTISTS JOIN THE ENSEMBLEOF THE INDIE-THEATER STALWART NEW YORK NEO-FUTURISTS

The collective of writer-director-performers now in their 19th season of writing and performing original work rooted in non-fiction, announce the expanding of the ensemble with four new artists: Amelia Bethel, Brent Whiteside, Maya Carter, and Jezz Chung
FOUR DYNAMIC NEW ARTISTS JOIN THE ENSEMBLE OF THE INDIE-THEATER STALWART NEW YORK NEO-FUTURISTS

New York, NY – (April 20, 2023) – Co-artistic directors Kyra Sims and Rob Neill and the award-winning New York Neo-Futurists (NYNF), a collective of writer-director-performers now in their 19th season of writing and performing original work rooted in non-fiction, announce the expanding of the ensemble with four new artists: Amelia Bethel, Brent Whiteside, Maya Carter, and Jezz Chung. These new Neo-Futurists will start working with the company immediately and will each have initial individual five-week runs in The Infinite Wrench at the Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street, NYC) now through August of 2023. Tickets are available at nynf.org.

“We are so fortunate that Amelia, Brent, Maya and Jezz have agreed to bring their artistic talents to the company. Each of their backgrounds, aesthetics and visions for what Neo-Futurism can be can only enhance the already rich theatrical landscape of our ensemble”, says Sims. “The infusion of these four stellar artists will cultivate new collaborations, new perspectives, and new plays, along with the continued evolution of what we devise and how we create”, adds Neill.

Amelia Bethel (she/her) is a theatre artist whose work confronts the performance of identity and the materiality of the body, with a focus on sexuality and a mixed-race experience. Her original work has been presented by Ars Nova, Atlas Obscura, The Tank, San Francisco Olympians Festival, Chicago Women’s Funny Fest, and elsewhere across the country. She can be heard as Marisol on the award-winning podcastUnwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mysteryfrom HartLife Studios. Amelia is a former associate artist in residence with poet Tracie Morris and playwright Sibyl Kempson at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and received her MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College.

Brent Whiteside (he/him) is a multi-hyphenate producer hailing from Chicago and currently based in New York City. He is a firm believer in creating your own opportunities and is committed to creating works that align with his passions and beliefs. Through storytelling, Brent advocates for the livelihoods that deserve space in media and society. His aim is to create works that both enlarge and resemble the real, multifaceted, and vivid lives of Black, Brown, Queer, and Trans people, with an emphasis on accessing and restoring narratives lost, dismissed, and untold. In his career, Brent has served multiple roles and positions across leading media and film outlets, such as HBO, VICE, Freeform, Buzzfeed, Quibi, and more. Most recently he field produced a new eight-episode Disney cable and Hulu docuseries, The Come Up. He has also had the pleasure of working with brands such as Pinterest, General Motors, Hugo Boss, and Unilver on creating content that marries the brands with culture in ways that ignite conversations while also celebrating diversity.

Maya Carter (they/them/Maya) is a trans-genre maker/performer + teaching artist/facilitator + cultivator of joy; based in Brooklyn, NY—on the unceded land of the Lenape People. Performance credits include: Seven Guitars (Actor’s Shakespeare Project), Little Women (Perseverance Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (Sharon Playhouse),and It Will Rise Soon Enough (Columbia/Lenfest). As an educator + guest artist Maya has worked with: The Child Center of New York, Hofstra University, Stages on The Sound and within the NYDOC.Additionally, Maya strives to prioritize ease + creative liberation while facilitating the emergence of new plays and devised work. Developmental projects include: Tanya’s Lit Clit with Experimental Bitch (Dramaturg + Creative Doula), Elle S’envoie with Linked Dance Theater (Co-Creator + Director), and GIRLS ACT OUT with Hawkhouse (Choreographer + Associate Director). Much of Maya’s generative work is an examination of the queer utopian ideal and of Black queer folk who grew up/out of/through trauma in Faith Communities. An excerpt of their play, How We’ll Get Over was commissioned for the Poetic Theater Productions annual festival in early March of 2020.

Jezz Chung (they/them)is a multidisciplinary artist from Georgia and Texas, now based in New York City exploring the intersection of personal transformation and collective change. With a background in movement, performance, and community organizing, Chung blends elements of their personal history as an autistic, disabled, queer, Korean American into their work to explore accessible, equitable, liberated futures.

They have been featured internationally in Paper Mag, Vogue Italia, Spain’s El País, and Portugal’s Público, have been invited to speak at Columbia University and Google, have written for Washington Post and i-D, were named a Pride honoree by Logo TV and a mental health advocate by Made of Millions. In 2022, they were a featured artist for 1969 Gallery’s “Pure Joy: 14 Disabled Visual and Performance Artists” curated by Chella Man. They have an audio series with Deem Journal titled “Dreaming Different” about building a neurodivergent future out May 2023, and have a book with Chronicle Prism due Spring 2024 titled “THIS WAY TO CHANGE.” You can follow their journey @jezzchung on Instagram, where they sing from their bathroom, share resources for artists and changemakers, and document the realities of living with chronic depression.

The New York Neo-Futurists are a prolific, dynamic ensemble of multidisciplinary artists who write and perform original work rooted in the truth of our own lived experiences. They fuse elements of poetry, game, and performance art to create ever-changing theater and other artistic experiments to respond to the world around them. Since opening in Brooklyn in 2004, the New York Neo-Futurists have premiered over 6,500 short plays in their radical theatre mechanisms Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (2004-2016) and The Infinite Wrench (2017-present), and have become a downtown New York institution. The NYNF have been a stalwart presence in the Off-Off Broadway community since their inception; they have won numerous Innovative Theatre Awards, earned multiple Drama Desk Nominations, and were honored at The 2018 Fresh Fruit Festival Awards with the Honeyberry Award for Unrecognized Service to the LGBT Community. The Infinite Wrench unleashes a barrage of two-minute plays, and while each one offers something different, be it funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, or terrifying, all are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers. In addition to performing The Infinite Wrench fifty weeks a year, the NYNF will premiere season four of their NYT-recommended podcast Hit Play later this year.

2018 Fresh Fruit Festival Honeyberry Award for Unrecognized Service to the LGBT Community

2006, 2011, & 2017 NYIT Award for Outstanding Performance Art Production

2015, 2014 & 2012 Drama Desk nominee for Unique Theatrical Experience

Dixon Place presents Soul Project’s Truth and Beauty

Soul Project’s
Truth and Beauty
May 11 – 19, 2023
For every journey in life, there is a season. A season for bliss, a season for change, a season to mourn, and a season to bloom.
Directed & Choreographed by Candace Brown

Early Bird tickets end Sat, April 15

Dancers: Niki Saludez, Skye Jackson-Williams, Mia Ortiz, Nicole Cardona, LJ Bologna, Leah Faircloth, Andrew Mulet, Kati Simon, Masumi Kayabashi, Jay Mills, Hamly Tavarez, Dan Santiago
Musicians: Ishanathan and Avi Stage Manager: Marc Nuñez

Well-respected dancer, teacher, and choreographer Candace Brown has been faculty across the US and internationally. Industry credits include Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Janelle Monae “X-Factor,” Jennifer Hudson, Nicole Scherzinger, Gwen Stefani, and more.

Truth and Beauty is commissioned by Dixon Place with support from Mellon Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts w/support from the Governor’s office & the NY State Legislature.

Tickets & More Info

FRIGID New York to Launch New Membership Program

FRIGID New York, one of the premiere indie theater producers in New York City, is launching a new membership program, designed to make the theater experience a memorable one. With a wide range of plays, musicals, and various comedy and variety shows on offer at both The Kraine Theater (85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009), there is something for everyone. From one person shows to original musicals, FRIGID has it all!

There are two tiers of membership, Swimming Solo and The Penguin Pair. Swimming Solo entitles members to one ticket to see ten shows. They can also add a free drink for each show by selecting the “Ticket & a Drink” membership. The Penguin Pair entitles members to two tickets to see ten shows. They can also add two free drinks per show by selecting the “Tickets & Drinks” membership. Memberships last for twelve months or until all ten shows have been seen. Memberships range from $150-$300 and can be purchased online at www.frigid.nyc/memberships.

FRIGID New York’s mission is to provide both emerging and established artists the opportunity to create and produce original work of varied content, form, or style, and to amplify their diverse voices. We do this by presenting an array of monthly programming, mainstage productions, an artist residency, and eight annual theater festivals that create an environment of collaboration, resourcefulness, and innovation. Founded in 1998, the aim was and is to form a structure, allowing multiple artists to focus on creating and staging new work and providing affordable rental space to scores of independent artists. Now in our third decade we have produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. www.frigid.nyc

National Women’s Theatre Festival Announces 2023 Keynote Speakers and WTFCon23

Chelsea Pace, Katy Sullivan, and Christine Toy Johnson

The National Women’s Theatre Festival (WTF), the nation’s largest symposium on gender and theatre, has announced the full schedule of WTFCon23 which will be presented in-person at the North Carolina State University’s Frank Thompson Hall (2241 Dunn Ave, Raleigh, NC 27606) on June 21, 22 & 23 as part of their 8th annual festival, June 21-July 1. The 2023 Keynote Speakers Christine Toy Johnson (Host of The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK Podcast; founding member of the Tony-honored Asian American Performers Action Coalition), Chelsea Pace (Co-Founder and Head Faculty of Theatrical Intimacy Education and Intimacy Director/Coordinator for Broadway and film), and Katy Sullivan (Champion paralympian who originated the role of Ani in the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning play Cost of Living; first actress who is an amputee to ever star on Broadway). Presenters this year will also include Stephanie Douglass, Host of The Moth for Chicago Public Radio.

The theme for WTFCon23 is Opening Doors. WTF Executive Artistic Director Johannah Maynard Edwards, asks: “What does it mean to open a door? Recently we find ourselves opening our doors out onto a world that seems to have exited pandemic stasis, whether we’re ready or not. Metaphorically, we open doors all the time – into a new gig, career, role or phase in our lives. Often, underrepresented-gender people find ourselves opening these metaphorical doors into places where we haven’t been or been expected before. How do we make sure to leave them open behind us so someone else historically-excluded can get through, too? WTFCon23 will consider all this and more!”

Tickets ($65-$325) for in-person and online events are available at www.womenstheatrefestival.com. Individual tickets are available to attend a single WTFCon23 session at a rate of $25per session. A single day pass for $100 per day is also available. WTFCon23 programming will also be available via virtual livestream to participants anywhere in the world.

WTFCon23 is a radically parent-inclusive event. In-person attendees with children are welcome to bring them along to participate in our 3-day “Share the Show” camp for children ages 4-13, for an additional fee of $200 per child (suggested), and Seedlings Nursery for children ages 0-3, sponsored by the Parent-Artist Advocacy League. These programs are open to all attendees but children must be registered in advance. Children are also welcome in all WTF spaces and events at all times.

WTF Director of Communications and Engagement, Kyra Montemayor Kelley, said, “WTFCon23 is a place for our community to connect and learn from and with each other; to advocate for our needs and the needs we see around us; to deeply, intentionally, and thoughtfully explore our work; and to surround ourselves with others who champion gender parity and equity in our field. More than a conference, our goal is for WTFCon23 to be a revitalizing self-enrichment experience for theatre artists and academics: an experience that involves humanity, belonging, and a shared sense of purpose, with opportunities to instigate and incubate. We hope you’ll join us!”

WTFCon23 Schedule

Opening Ceremony: Radical Welcoming
This is the opening session of WTFCon23 for all attendees.
Wednesday, June 21 at 9:30am EDT

Greasing the Door Hinges: Theater as a Means of Increasing Inclusivity Advocacy Through Applying Concepts of Psychological Change with Sandra Wartski
Greasing door hinges helps those doors open wider and more easily, allowing broader thinking and more inclusivity for all. This session will focus on the way in which live theater performances can be a pivotal means of shifting bias, disparity, and inequity in our communities. Theater has always allowed audience members to see a different perspective than their own, but performances focused specifically on themes related to gender disparity and other inequality can shift this perspective even further. Psychologist Dr. Sandra Wartski will speak about some of the key factors in changing beliefs and bias that can be upheld and highlighted in theater. Change is hard but possible; knowledge and exposure is a powerful positive influence that can make a difference. Wednesday, June 21 at 10:00am EDT

Going Big AND Going Home: Crafting your central stories and creating space for others in Live Lit and Storytelling with Stephanie Douglass
As live lit and storytelling have grown in popularity, many tellers have begun to create and host their own shows. Producing can sometimes separate you from your art, and this is a workshop for how to be both artist and welcoming curator. The workshop will include prompts, crafting your stories, storytelling values, dealing with difficult situations onstage, talking about hard and controversial events, accessibility, avoiding gatekeeper syndrome, and making sure your line-ups reflect the community. There will also be a special section on how NOT to give notes to yourself and others. This session is for both storytellers and producers, and will culminate in an in-workshop performance/presentation. Participants will leave with multiple tools for creating and handling a variety of situations, both in their own work, in collaborative relationships, and onstage. Wednesday, June 21 at 10:00am EDT

How to Open, Maintain, and Make a Theater Company More Equitable with Maria Müller
In an industry that values and encourages self-produced work more than ever, it is important for theater artists to understand how to open and maintain a theater company and why it would be beneficial to do so. In an industry that is open to conversations around social justice and inclusivity more than ever, it is imperative for theater artists to be part of those conversations and take accountability for how they show up for their collaborators, specifically immigrant collaborators. Whether you are looking to open a theater company but don’t know where/how to begin or you already have one but are looking to create a more open and inclusive environment in it, this session will offer you the resources you need. Wednesday, June 21 at 10:00am EDT

Leading From An Ethics of Care Approach with Simone Tetrault
With a focus on leadership roles in theatrical development, this workshop will explore: How do dominant traditions of theatre reinforce power dynamics that romanticize and perpetuate oppressive development practices? How can we strive towards desired performance outcomes in a way that is safe and ethical for all participants and consider the importance of intent vs. impact in our directing and producing practices? Through engagement with a range of performance development approaches, participants will critically examine the ways in which traditional power dynamics can form barriers to ethical working environments and discuss alternative leadership pathways that promote inclusive, consent-based practices for theatre development from an ethics of care approach using frameworks and tools drawn from intimacy direction, progressive educational pedagogy, DEIA contexts, and nonhierarchical postmodern co-creation methods. Wednesday, June 21 at 11:30am EDT

Lunch & Learn: Imposter! Reclaiming Rejection as a Motivating Force with Natalie Groom
Explore themes of rejection and imposter syndrome and pushing through them to open new doors with soprano/clarinet classical music duo Whistling Hens. After all, the Hens’ name was reclaimed from a male music critic who wrote in the New York Times in 1918, “women composers are at best whistling hens.” Through theatrical works “Thursday” by composer Ashi Day and “Musical Invective” by composer Jennifer Stevenson, we’ll unpack ways to depersonalize and disarm rejection by way of humor and reclaim insults as a motivating force. We’ll include time for mini break outs to brainstorm moments of rejection and imposter syndrome, and share out as a group at the end to find ways to spin it to the funny side. Come reclaim your creative joy with us through these performances, discussions, and bonus therapeutic coloring book pages. As composer Jennifer Stevenson says, “Make the art anyway.”
This session will be offered as a lunch and learn, so feel free to nosh while you watch! Wednesday, June 21 at 1:15pm EDT

Prompt of the Day
Playwrights, bring your notebooks and your pens! Each day at lunch, a playwright from the National WTF community will lead a prompt and free-writing time. You’ll have time to quickly grab lunch and eat as you work, or come directly to the session and eat your lunch after.
Wednesday, June 21 at 1:15pm EDT with Rachel Leighson
Thursday, June 22 at 1:15pm EDT with Serena Norr
Friday, June 23 at 1:45pm EDT with Mora Harris

KEYNOTE: Chelsea Pace on Impostor Syndrome
This hour-long talk by Theatrical Intimacy Education-founder Chelsea Pace is one of the three Keynote Addresses of WTFCon23!
Wednesday, June 21 at 2:30pm EDT

Your Confidence Opens Doors, Part 1 with Desirèe Dabney
This interactive musical theatre session led by Professor Dabney explains the history of musical theatre from a diverse lens. This session will explain having confidence in what you love to do, and how important it is for diverse voices to be seen and heard!
Wednesday, June 21 at 3:30pm EDT

Your Confidence Opens Doors, Part 2 with Desirèe Dabney
For those who have a book with them or musical theatre pieces prepared, Professor Dabney will offer an in-person coaching to discover your sparkle and shine so bring your books and get ready to sing! Wednesday, June 21 at 4:20pm EDT

A Space Says a Thousand Words with Alexis Elisa Macedo
Why are all the magnets on the fridge exactly 3 centimeters apart from each other? What mementos are laid on the ofrenda of a lost loved one? Where do they hide their shameful, stress cigarettes? The space where your characters live, love, fight, perform rituals, feel safe, consider sacred, etc., speaks volumes about who they are and what they value…before a single line of dialogue is spoken. Join Macedo in an poetic, world-building playwriting workshop, that challenges you to explore the textures, scents, and rules of your paper playgrounds.
Wednesday, June 21 at 3:30pm EDT

When Women Lead: Directing and Producing Case Studies Panel with Molly Claassen, Dr. Grace Edgar, Lisa Every, Vida Finley, Cindy Williams Gutierrez, Amy Poisson, Jenn Ruzumna, and Dr. Amy Scurria Join groundbreaking professionals from around the country as they share their successes, survivable failures, and discoveries. Learn from their experience and come get inspired. Get ready to be blown away by the work that’s happening all over the country right now to push gender parity forward! Wednesday, June 21 at 3:30pm EDT

MIXER: Celebrating our Intersectionalities
Inspired by the idea of Affinity Groups, this mixer will allow us to celebrate all our identities in all their intersections. Join us for a drink and some nosh, and to meet and socialize with all your Affinity Groups at once without having to choose! Ambassadors will be present representing the following Affinities: AAPI, Autistic/Neurodiverse, Black, Caregiver, Disabled, Latine/x, Mixed Race, TGNC. Collect fun buttons to celebrate the unique ways your identities intersect.
Wednesday, June 21 at 5:00pm EDT

All Made Up with Stephanie Douglass
From Second City to The Groundlings, improvisation is one of the most influential and underappreciated genres. With roots in social justice and healing, improv forms the core of most comedy and devised performance. This workshop will focus on bringing yourself to the stage and transforming into authentic characters while supporting your fellow performers. The focus will be on trust, kindness, and how to have one another’s back creating hilarious and relatable situations. It’s all about taking time, sharing space, and building a world while building each other up. Taught by two seasoned Chicago (and NC) improvisors who created one of Chicago’s early (and far too late) all-female/non-binary improv groups, this will be a welcoming introduction or excellent refresher. Participants will come away with games, applications, ideas for work development, and an appreciation for the myriad of ways improv can build community while doubling us over in laughter. Wednesday, June 21 at 6:30pm EDT

Self, No Self, and the Collective: Ritual as Healing with Eve Woldemikael and Auds Jenkins This is a participatory theater ritual that explores spirituality, identity, and belonging through collective practice. We are interested in exploring theater as a form of ritual and art as a spiritual practice of healing. How do we make the sacred more playful and the playful more sacred? How do our identities help us and limit us? What are our dreams and how can we bring them to life? What is home to us and who brought us here? We are Harvard Divinity School students who are exploring emergent spirituality as a means to ground ourselves. We thrive at the intersection of performance and ritual, and we want to create art rooted in justice and belonging. We see theater as a way to foster collective healing in a fractured world. We are committed to challenging sexism, racism, classism, and all the other isms through innovative means of engaging with spirituality. Thursday, June 22 at 9:00am EDT

Qualify Yourself! with Chelsea Pace
Join Chelsea Pace, one of our 2023 Keynote Speakers, for this 3 hour-long workshop where you create your own qualifications for your dream career and a pathway to get there! Let’s dream big and make a plan to achieve our artistic goals – together!
Thursday, June 22 at 10:00am EDT

Lunch & Learn: Motherhood in Academia with Molly Claassen
Caregiving is hard, especially in a system that is traditionally unwelcoming to parent artists. What do you need? How do you ask for it? How can you help make change? Brainstorm action items with us for radical parent inclusion in academia and the performing arts. This session will be offered as a lunch and learn, so feel free to nosh while you discuss!
Thursday, June 22 at 1:15pm EDT

KEYNOTE: Christine Toy Johnson “Build Your Own Gate (or I Am My Own Gatekeeper)”
This hour-long talk by Tony-honored performer and Dramatist’s Guild Treasurer Christine Toy Johnson is one of the three Keynote Addresses of WTFCon23! For too many years, artists from historically excluded communities have been kept out of spaces that do not include their unique lived experiences. Sometimes we just have to make our own so we can open them ourselves (metaphorically and literally) and flourish our way through them (metaphorically and literally). This session will include a few case studies of some of the gates writer/actor/advocate for inclusion Christine Toy Johnson has created and opened for her own work, and how she’s been determined to reimagine barriers in the process. She will share grant writing advice, ideas on finding inspiration in your community, and thoughts on how to nurture your own creative soul. This session will take the form of an informal interview between Christine and National WTF Executive Artistic Director Johannah Maynard Edwards along with a conversation with the attendees that will include questions. It will also include excerpts from A Little More Blue, Christine’s new musical in development. Thursday, June 22 at 2:30pm EDT

The Black Drama School presents: An Immersive Syllabus with Korinn Annette Jefferies
Each month, The Black Drama School develops a syllabus to facilitate and encourage the study of a Black dramatic work or recurring theme in Black drama. Our syllabi are made with accessibility in mind, striving to address a variety of learning styles and engagement levels. The Immersive Syllabus invites attendees to interrogate their own access needs as well as explore diverse approaches to theatre pedagogy and audience engagement while learning about a Black dramatic work. Thursday, June 22 at 3:30pm EDT

Theatre of the Oppressed: Dramatizing and Engaging with Identity Processes and Stigma with Marianna Staroselsky This two-part session will first teach the dramaturgical toolkit through forum theatre, first inviting spect-actors into the narrative and then facilitating a playwriting and playful reading session where the spect-actors stories are explored on their feet. 1. The Dramaturgical Toolkit for Everyday Encounters: A Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop 2. (Play)writing: Writing and Playing with Your Inner (and Outer) Oppressors
Thursday, June 22 at 3:30pm EDT

Elevating Women Playwrights of Color with Zizi Majid
This session will explore ways in which undergraduate Dramatic Literature courses can be expansive to include seminal works of dramatic literature by women playwrights of color. The expressed aim is to understand in-depth the impact and relevance of these plays in American theatre history as well as in contemporary American theatre. Of special importance is to understand these playwrights and plays in the particularity of their context; how they intersect with the socio-political climate and social justice movements; and their importance in the American theatre canon. Thursday, June 22 at 4:20pm EDT

MIXER: Fringe Opening Reception
Attendees and Presenters from WTFCon and Artists from WTFringe 2023 can mix and mingle before the opening night of Fringe! Thursday, June 22 at 5pm EDT

KEYNOTE CONVERSATION: On Opening Doors with Katy Sullivan, Christine Toy Johnson and Chelsea Pace Katy Sullivan will moderate a conversation between our Keynote Speakers on this year’s conference theme: Opening Doors. Friday, June 23 at 9:30am EDT

Project Management for Producers with Liz Zimmerman
Liz Zimmerman shares with you some of the most valuable concepts from the project management discipline. The goal is to pull project management out of the corporate context, demystify and make it accessible by translating the key concepts that are most useful for theater and performance event producers. Friday, June 23 at 10:30am EDT

It Takes More Than Talent! with Jeanette W. Hill
Your story should be told. You’ve reached ‘The End’ of your play. Now what? Follow the well-trodden path of those who’ve gone before you. Countless submissions and all too often just as many rejections? Introduction letters to community and regional theatres, hoping for a response? Both are great ideas, but with only a limited number of theatres looking for new work and thousands upon thousands of playwrights looking for a home for their play, the percentages are not in our favor. This interactive presentation provides information from identifying your ‘Why?’ to exploring various ways to produce your own work, getting it in front of audiences. Let’s see if we can help that happen! Friday, June 23 at 10:30am EDT

Physical Theatre Workshop
In a 3 hour-long physical theatre workshop, conference participants will have a chance to get on their feet and move their bodies. Bring movement clothes if you want to participate!
Friday, June 23 at 10:30am EDT

Thresholds of Belonging: Are you ready to diversify your cultural workforce? with Dr. Jaleesa Wells How do you create belonging and authentically diversify your cultural workforce? This workshop illuminates best practices for diversifying the cultural workforce for arts administrators and professional theatre companies. Friday, June 23 at 11:20am EDT

Overcoming Writing Fear! A Creative Writing Workshop to Free Your Voice with June Guralnick Our greatest stumbling block as we write is most often ourselves –that negative voice inside that can stop our creativity cold in its tracks. This workshop integrates thought-provoking writing suggestions and mindfulness-based exercises to inspire you to have a conversation with your inner ‘critic’ and embrace joy and discovery again in your writing process! Led by award-winning author and teacher June Guralnick (and recent 2022 Raleigh Medal of Arts recipient) the workshop incorporates different forms of writing (playwriting, poetry, journaling, letter-writing) as a path to self-reflection, with the goal of gaining insight as well as helpful writing tools in your creative practice. The sharing of written work during class is always optional. Friday, June 23 at 12:00pm EDT

KEYNOTE with Katy Sullivan
This hour-long talk by Champion Paralympian and Broadway performer Katy Sullivan is one of the three Keynote Addresses of WTFCon23! Friday, June 23 at 3:00pm EDT

Burlesque Chair Monologue Work: Building Confidence and Connection with Melanie Frasca This workshop is for performers who want to develop their monologue performance. It will help you to develop your confidence and connection through utilizing burlesque chair choreography. Friday, June 23 at 4:00pm EDT

Tools and Strategies to Translate Stories for Stage Performance with Paloma Sierra
Are you a multilingual artist interested in increasing opportunities for your work? Join our workshop to learn how you can use translation to your advantage! Through discussion, exercises, and feedback, participants will learn how they can best communicate their stories to facilitate collaboration with actors, directors, and designers; and help audiences overcome language barriers. Friday, June 23 at 4:00pm EDT

Your Brand As Artist: Five Stories You Need To Tell with Alexus Rhone
Every life is a ‘brand’, and every brand has a story – a ton of them. Join us for an overview in crafting the five stories every brand must tell, then translating them for diverse platforms – page, stage, screen, web, radio and podcast. This workshop will teach artists to use vital marketing tools to help get their work out there! Friday, June 23 at 4:00pm EDT

Closing Ceremony: Send Off and Sharing Space for Camp & Writers
This is the closing session of WTFCon23 for all attendees. Playwrights will be invited to share work they have written in response to our Prompts of the Day, and the kids’ “Share the Show” camp will present the brief piece they’ve created. Friday, June 23 at 5:30pm EDT

Christine Toy Johnson is an award-winning playwright, actor, and filmmaker. As a playwright, her first play, The New Deal, was the inaugural play to be developed in the “Different Voices” program at the Roundabout Theatre Company in NYC (2006) and was part of Wesleyan University’s 2011 Playwriting Curriculum. An active advocate of diversity in the industry, she is an officer and board member of the Alliance For Inclusion in the Arts (which received a 2011 Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre), and as part of the elected leadership of Actors’ Equity Association, is co-chair of the union’s Eastern Regional Equal Employment Opportunity Committee and a founding member of AAPAC (Asian American Performers Action Coalition).
www.christinetoyjohnson.com

Chelsea Pace is an intimacy choreographer, coordinator, and educator with more than a decade of dedicated research in the field of intimacy work. As Co-Founder and Head Faculty of Theatrical Intimacy Education, she has shared her work with thousands of theatre and film artists around the world. Her work appears in studio and independent film and television projects and from academic theatre, to regional theatre, to Broadway. www.chelseapace.com

Katy Sullivan is an award winning actress, producer, writer, athlete, bilateral above knee amputee and is the first actress who is an amputee to ever star on Broadway. She grew up in Alabama, performing in theatre and received a BFA in acting from Webster University’s Conservatory in St. Louis. Sullivan originated the role of Ani in the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning play, Cost of Living. She has starred in 5 productions from New York to Los Angeles to London and all the way to Broadway. www.katysullivan.net

The mission of the National Women’s Theatre Festival is to create, produce, and promote extraordinary theatre by women and artists of all underrepresented genders with the ultimate goal of 100% parity in the US theatre industry. They gather artists from North Carolina and across the nation at their annual events, helping to create a pipeline of extraordinary talent that will revolutionize theatre as we know it. Since its founding in 2016, the National Women’s Theatre Festival (WTF) has produced 23 mainstage theatrical productions, 64 Fringe-style shows, and over 125 staged readings, and hosted over 250 workshops and panels. Their signature event is an annual summer festival of plays, workshops, and all things theatre. In 2023-2024 National WTF will mount its first mainstage season in three years, featuring 3 fully staged plays, performed in Raleigh, NC. WTF creates opportunities for underrepresented gender theatre makers to develop and practice skills in a supportive and creative environment, and to have their talents recognized. www.womenstheatrefestival.com