The Alcove New Play Development Program
The Alcove at the Lortel is a national and international multi-faceted approach to developing plays by early and mid-career playwrights and translators led and curated by Caridad Svich.
The play development process starts with the awarding of micro-commissions for full-length work. Additional elements include R & D work sessions in conjunction with dramaturgs, directors and/or designers, and rotating roster of artists-in-residence. Two digital components of the program are a digital reading series and a webcast series entitled “Conversations from the Alcove” where Svich chats with Lortel-commissioned artists about arts and ideas in theatre and performance.
Playwrights and Theatre-makers are currently selected for Alcove commissions both by invitation and through agent submission and referrals on a rolling basis between September and February. An open submission window will be announced in future, likely fall 2025.
Conversations from the Alcove
A webcast series on the Lortel’s YouTube channel featuring conversations with playwrights on arts, ideas, craft and the world.
Season 3 Schedule Announced!
January
Roger Q Mason – Jan 14
Roger Q Mason is a Black, Filipinix, gender queer writer and performer who uses the lens of history to disrupt the biases that divide rather than unite us. Their pieces include LAVENDER MEN, THE WHITE DRESS, THE DUAT, THE PRIDE OF LIONS.
Alex Lin – Jan 28
Alexandra Lin a Chinese-American playwright from Bergen County, NJ. Her play CHINESE REPUBLICANS won the Stavis Award in 2024. Her work has been developed at the Roundabout Theatre, Second Stage, NYTW and more.
February
Marissa Joyce Stamps – Feb 11
Marissa Joyce Stamps is a Haitian-American NYC-based writer, director and actor who creates vortexes that center, center and amplify Black foks through an Afrosurrealist lens. Plays include BLUE FIRE BURNS THE HOTTEST, LETICHE AND THE [WONDROUS] PURSUIT OF ELVIS.
Gloria Oladipo – Feb 25
Gloria Oladipo is a playwright from Chicago, currently based in NYC. She writes Black comedies about Black women, exploring themes of caregiving, mental health, and trauma through a mix of absurdism and realism. She is a 2023-25 Public Theater Emerging Writers Group Fellow. She is also a reporter for The Guardian.
March
Danny Tejera – March 11
Danny Tejera is a playwright, film/tv writer and teacher from Madrid, Spain, currently based in NYC. His play TOROS received its world premiere at Second Stage Theatre.
Christine Toy Johnson – March 25
Christine Toy Johnson is a playwright, actor and advocate for inlclusion. Her plays have been developed at the Roundabout, Crossroads and more. On television she is best known as “Sherry Yang” in Season 2 of Nextflix/Marvel series “Iron Fist.”
April
Sunny Drake – April 8
Sunny Drake is a writer, creator and producer and proud trans artist. His work focuses often on climate change and its effects. His work has been seen at the Stratford Festival, Soulpepper, and more. His plays include EVERY LITTLE NOOKIE and CHILD-ish.
Rudi Goblen – April 22
Rudi Goblen is a playwright, actor, educator and performer who creates solo theatre and devised theatre work. As a dancer, he has toured internationally with his award-winning group Flipside Kings. He is recipient of the Vineyard Theatre Colman Domingo Award and is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
May
Andrea Stolowitz – May 6
Andrea Stolowitz is an American playwright based in
Oregon. She works in traditional and experimental theatre and opera. She is
affiliated with English Theatre in Berlin and is a resident playwright at New
Dramatists.
Shane Brant – May 20
Shane Brant (S.T. Brant) is a poet and playwright based in Las Vegas, Nevada. His debut poetry collection MELODY In EXILE was published in 2022.
June
Savannah Reich – June 10
Savannah Reich is a playwright and screenwriter based in Philadelphia. her plays include OEDIPUS IN SEATTLE, and TRISTAN TZARA WAS MY BEST FRIEND IN JUNIOR HIGH. Her work straddles devised theatre, automated theatre and traditional theatre.
The Alcove at the Lortel is a place to seed dreams and innovative writing for performance reflective of the breadth and depth of artistry and perspectives in the national and global theatre realm.
Future components of the program will include a scratch night series, a works-in-progress festival and more.