The latest in our Digital Reading series!
RSVP to Stream for Free from April 8-22.
A play about books, mostly . . . and bonfires, clichés, dystopias, failure, happiness, jokes, justice, privilege, publishing, rejection, self-loathing, shoplifting, and umbrellas. An old, established, male English writer and a young, aspiring, female American writer meet in London cafés to talk about books—that’s the plot. There are flirtations, arguments, spilt coffee, deaths both in life and in fiction, generational and gender and cultural conflict, rain and laughter. Adapted from celebrated author Charles Boyle’s The Other Jack and 99 Interruptions.
Developed by The Alcove at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, directed by James Dacre. Performed by Jasmine Blackborrow and Nathaniel Parker, and produced by Caridad Svich.
Alistair McDowall Selected at 2025 Virtual Artist in Residence With Dramaturg Jonathan L. Green
The Alcove at the Lortel is pleased to welcome Alistair McDowall as its second artist in virtual residence. In addition to continuing development of his new play Tower Play, McDowall will advise The Alcove throughout the year with artist recommendations and projects. Jonathan L. Green, Director of New Play Development for Steppenwolf, will serve as dramaturg.
Photo credit: Helen Murray
Alistair McDowall grew up in the North East of England. His plays include all of it, The Glow, X, Talk Show (Royal Court); Zero for the Young Dudes! (National Theatre Connections); Pomona (Orange Tree Theatre/National Theatre/Royal Exchange); Captain Amazing, Brilliant Adventures (Live Theatre/Royal Exchange). His awards and fellowships include Abraham Woursell Award (2016-2021); MacDowell Fellow (2018); Harold Pinter Commission (2018). Alistair’s work has been widely translated and produced internationally.
Photo credit: Joe Mazza
Jonathan L. Green is the Director of New Play Development for Steppenwolf where his most recent dramaturgy credits include Suzan-Lori Parks’s The Book of Grace, Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, and the world premiere and Broadway transfer of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Purpose. Previously Green was the Director of New Works for Goodman Theatre, where his dramaturgy credits included the world premieres of Christina Anderson’s How to Catch Creation, Rogelio Martinez’s Blind Date, Charles Smith’s Objects in the Mirror, and Doug Wright’s, Scott Frankel’s and Michael Korie’s War Paint, as well as works in development by Charise Castro Smith, Octavio Solis, Abe Koogler, Bess Wohl, Paola Lázaro, and Dave Harris. As a director, he has worked with Sideshow Theatre, Steppenwolf, Diversionary Theatre, TheatreWorks, Greenhouse Theater Center, Silk Road Rising, Playwrights’ Center, and more. Green served as the Artistic Director of Sideshow Theatre Company from 2007-2020. www.jonathanlgreen.com
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.
Watch the Latest Episode!
Season 3 Schedule
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 folks 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 inclusion. 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.
Phanesia Pharel – May 20
Phanesia Pharel is a Haitian-American playwright from a dragon fruit farm in Miami. The daughter of an immigrant teacher and farmer, she writes to honor people. Her plays include THE WATERFALL, LUCKY, and BLACK GIRL JOY. She is a member of EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective.
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.
Shane Brant – June 24
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.
Season 3 Playlist
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.