High School Playwriting Fellowship
The Lucille Lortel Theatre’s NYC Public High School Playwriting Fellowship supports aspiring young playwrights in developing original plays through mentorship, workshops, and a professional staged reading. The program is run by artistic director Kimille Howard and teaching artist Azure D. Osborne-Lee.
APPLICATION NOW OPEN!
We’re seeking 7 lucky fellows for a series of workshops to help you craft your first (or next) play!
APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST
About the Fellowship
The Lucille Lortel Theatre’s NYC Public High School Playwriting Fellowship will support diverse young writers and create an awareness of playwriting as a career. The opportunities provided by this program will encourage NYC public high school students to become the next generation of playwrights.
Up to seven Fellows will be selected from each of the five NYC boroughs and District 75 and District 79 schools.
Fellows Receive:
• Mentoring from theatre professionals
• $500 Honorarium
• Dinner and broadway tickets
• Presentation of play
APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST
Get inspired!
Highlights From The Fellowship Plays
Meet the Artistic Director
Kimille Howard is a director, deviser, writer and filmmaker. She’s an Assistant Stage Director at the Metropolitan Opera, Artistic Director of the Lucille Lortel Theatre’s NYC Public High School Playwriting Fellowship, and a founder of the Black Diaspora Theatre Collective. Recent directing credits: The 2024 New Works Collective (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Sanctuary Road (Virginia Opera), The Oscar Micheaux Project (NAMT Fest), Treemonisha (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson (Glimmerglass/Washington National Opera, Opera Carolina), Songs in Flight (Sparks and Wiry Cries/Met Live), The Italian Girl (Tulsa Opera), American Apollo (DMMO), B.R.O.K.E.N Code B.I.R.D Switching (Berkshire Theatre Group), Quamino’s Map (Chicago Opera Theater). Her work has also been seen at Playwrights’ Horizons, 59E59, Wolf Trap Opera, Cherry Lane Theatre, among others. Broadway: Ain’t Too Proud (Assistant Director) Met Opera: Champion, Die Zauberflöte, Porgy And Bess, Tosca (Assistant Stage Director). Recent Fellowships: NYTW 2050 Fellowship, MTC Jonathan Alper Directing Fellowship, New York Stage and Film’s inaugural NYSAF NEXUS project. She is a recipient of OPERA America’s 2023 Robert L. B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize.
Meet the Teaching Artist
Iraisa Ann Reilly is a writer, actor and educator originally from New Jersey. She recently appeared Off-Broadway at Ensemble Studio Theatre in her one-woman show A Bodega Princess Remembers La Fiesta de Los Reyes Magos, 1998. Her work has been developed and recognized by Lucille Lortel Theatre, EST, Latinx Playwrights Circle, Teatro del Sol, Soho Rep, Atlantic Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Two River Theatre, Arkansas New Play Festival, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Theatre Exile, The New Harmony Project, Texas A&M University, Michigan State, Sol Project, Simpatico Theatre Company, Art House Productions, Repertorio Español and the Yale Drama Series. She was a part of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Underground Residency and is currently a member of WP Theatre’s Playwright’s Lab . Iraisa Ann is an adjunct professor of Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch and is a teaching artist with Roundabout Theatre Company and ESPA Primary Stages. MFA Dramatic Writing, NYU. BA Theatre and English, University of Notre Dame. iraisaannreilly.com
This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
*TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY; FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF RULES CLICK HERE.