2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Playwriting Fellows Presentation

THE DRAMATISTS GUILD FOUNDATION

The 2022-2023 DGF Playwriting Fellows Presentation of New Works FEATURING THE WORK OF

AARON COLEMAN

GLORIA OLADIPO

SMJ

MATTHEW LIBBY

ZIZI MAJID

DIRECTED BY CANDIS C. JONES DGF FELLOWS IS SUPPORTED THROUGH THE GENEROSITY OF THE SELLER-LEHRER FAMILY FOUNDATION.

Presentation of New Works by the 2022–2023 DGF Playwriting Fellows Featuring Work By Aaron Coleman Gloria Oladipo Matthew Libby SMJ Zizi Majid Director Candis C. Jones Stage Manager Thomas Dieter Casting by X Casting/ Victor Vazquez, CSA

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

GLORIA OLADIPO

“THE CARE AND KEEPING OF SCHIZOPHRENIA (AND OTHER DEMONS)” Gloria Oladipo is a playwright based in New York, proudly hailing from Chicago, IL. She writes Black comedies about Black women, exploring themes of caregiving, mental health, and trauma through a mix of realism and absurdism. Gloria is a 2023-2025 Emerging Writers Group Fellow with the Public Theater. She is a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow and 2023 Seven Devils New Play Conference resident, where her play The Care and Keeping of Schizophrenia (and Other Demons) is in development. She is a 2023 Gingold Group Speaker's Corner fellow, with her play I Wanna Kill, Annie G. Gloria is 2023 artist-in-residence with New York Stage and Film in Poughkeepsie, New York. Gloria is also a Velvetpark Writers Residency finalist. Gloria's other plays include The Good Victim (Cornell University reading/development), The Forever War (HeermansMcCalmon Competition for Dramatic Writing 2nd Place), Fishers of Men (Festival 24 reading), and other works. Her work has also been developed at the Curious Theatre Company, Lifelong, and other institutions. Gloria is also an award-winning cultural critic and journalist. She is the 2023 Edward Medina Prize for Excellence in Cultural Criticism.

She is a 2022 National Critics Institute fellow at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, an opportunity she was selected for via the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Institute for Theatre Journalism and Advocacy. Gloria's work has appeared in Teen Vogue, the Guardian, Bitch Media, and other publications. Gloria holds a Bachelor Writer Bio: from Cornell University. of Arts and Sciences

ABOUT SMJ

Selected Honors American Theatre Critics Association Edward Medina Prize for Excellence in Cultural Criticism (2023) Institute for Theater Journalism and Advocacy Kennedy Center Awardee (2022) Curious New Voices National Collective Fellow (2017, 2018) Heermans-McCalmon Competition for Dramatic Writing (Second place, 2017) Velvetpark Media Residency Shortlist (2023) DGF Mentor: Kia Corthron

Fellowships Public Theater Emerging Writers Group (2023-2025) Jeff Ubben Posse Fellow at Public Theater (2019) 2023 Gingold Group Speaker's Corner fellow 2022 National Critics Institute fellow at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center 2023 Seven Devils New Play Conference resident Artist in Residence at New York Stage and Film www.gloriaoladipo.com

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

THE CARE AND KEEPING OF SCHIZOPHRENIA (AND OTHER DEMONS)

by GLORIA OLADIPO

SYNOPSIS Charity’s plans to move to California with her girlfriend, Dani, are put on hold when her mother breaks her hip trying to manage her brother through yet another mental health crisis. Determined ABOUT to finally getSMJ her brother the support he needs, Charity moves back to her family home only to find her best efforts thwarted by a surreal mental health system; her mother’s insistence that everything is okay; and an obnoxious, aptly named, and increasingly impossible to manage Sleep Demon. The absurdist, humorist romp The Care and Keeping of Schizophrenia (and Other Demons) asks: can Charity take control of the pressures bearing down on her or will a desperate attempt to get her family "well" tear her life apart?

CAST LIST CHARITY..................................................................STARR KIRKLAND* SLEEP DEMON.........................................................TẸMÍDAYỌ AMAY*

Writer Bio:

JONAH................................................................................BRU AJU* *denotes AEA membership

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

ZIZI MAJID “THEY CAME IN THE NIGHT”

Zizi Majid is a playwright whose plays advocate for a shared humanity. She is the inaugural recipient of the Julia Miles Playwriting Residency 2023 (WP Theatre), a 2022-23 Playwriting Fellow with the Dramatists Guild Foundation and a proud alumni of the WP Lab. She won the Pacific Rim Prize for Playwriting (Kumu Kahua / UHM Theatre Playwriting Contest); has been a finalist for the Blue Ink Playwriting Award; a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival; a twice semi-finalist for the O'Neil National Playwrights Conference and a finalist for the Columbia@Roundabout New Play

ABOUT SMJ

Reading Series. Plays include They Came in the Night, Return to Fall, The Rejects and How to Gild an Eagle. For five years, Zizi was the Artistic Director of Teater Ekamatra (Singapore) garnering multiple awards during her tenure. She teaches playwriting and drama in context at Syracuse University. MFA: Columbia University.

Writer Bio:

Selected Honors Julia Miles Playwriting Residency 2023 Pacific Rim Prize for Playwriting (Kumu Kahua / University of Hawaii Manoa Playwriting Contest Selected Fellowships WP Lab Playwriting Fellow (2020-22)

DGF Mentor: Sarah Ruhl

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

THEY CAME IN THE NIGHT

by ZIZI MAJID

SYNOPSIS After the sudden death of her mother, Zsa Zsa receives a visitor from Baghdad: SMJ an aunt, who served as an interpreter for ABOUT the U.S. military and has finally been allowed to immigrate to the U.S. They Came in the Night is a distinctive play about a family sifting through the debris of America’s fraught War in Iraq.

CAST LIST NISA......................................................................MEHRY ESLAMINIA* ZSA ZSA...................................,.......................CHRISTINE MIRZAYAN* DILLA .............................................................................HEND AYOUB*

Writer Bio:

*denotes AEA membership

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

AARON COLEMAN “TELL ME I’M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD: The Last Gay Play” AARON COLEMAN is a New York City-based playwright, bookwriter and lyricist from Los Angeles.

He writes theatrically outlandish work that aims to surprise and delight while shedding light. He is a '22-23 Dramatists Guild Foundation Playwriting Fellow, 2023 Artist-in-Residence at New York Stage and Film, and Second Year Member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. His plays include TELL ME I’M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD: THE LAST GAY PLAY (2023 O’Neill Finalist, 2022 Yale Drama Series Prize Shortlist, 2023 Blue Ink Award Semi-Finalist), UNCLE REMUS, HIS LIFE

ABOUT SMJ

AND TIMES, AS TOLD TO AARON COLEMAN (The Old Globe’s 2023 Powers New Voices Festival), and WHERE HAVE ALL THE FAIRIES GONE? (2022 Reading with Brave New World Repertory Theatre). His original short YA musical LEO’S BIG DAY OUT (music by Chuck Pelletier) was commissioned and virtually staged by Circle in the Square Theatre School. Over the past couple years, Aaron has also been a Semi-Finalist for the Princess Grace Award, a two-time Finalist for the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center, a Finalist for New York Theater Workshop's 2050 Fellowship, three-time Finalist for The Civilians’ Group (2020, 2021, 2023), and a Finalist for the 2019 Playwrights' Week WriterR&D Bio: at The Lark. MFA: Writing for Screen and Television, USC School of Cinematic Arts.

AaronColemanWrites.com. Instagram: @MerrilyMan Selected Honors TELL ME I’M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD: The Last Gay Play Yale Drama Series Prize, Short List, 2022 O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Finalist, 2023 Blue Ink Playwriting Award, Semi-Finalist, 2023 UNCLE REMUS, HIS LIFE AND TIMES, AS TOLD TO AARON COLEMAN The Old Globe Powers New Voices Festival, 2023 Princess Grace Award, Semi-Finalist, 2021 BMI Musical Theater Writing Workshop, Second Year Lyricist, 20232024 New York Stage and Film, Artist in Residence, 2023 DGF Mentor: Doug Wright

Representation: Elise Griffin (she/they) Paradigm egriffin@paradigmagency.com 212.897.6400

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

TELL ME I’M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD: The Last Gay Play

by AARON COLEMAN

SYNOPSIS YAS, BISH! This will be #BestSummerEver!

ABOUT SMJ The party rages on in a fierce Fire Island home, and nothing can stop it. Not even two unexpected houseguests, who set off a reckoning of apocalyptic proportions. TELL ME I’M GORGEOUS AT THE END OF THE WORLD blows up the tropes of the gay party play—and shakes up theatrical genres quicker than a cosmo laced with poppers—to tell the tale of a Black gay man and an AsianAmerican gay man seeking a place in the mainstream gay community. But the world has other plans.

CAST LIST BRADEN.........................................................DANIEL LYNN EVANS* BRICK ...............................................................TIMOTHY HUGHES* TYLER ........................................................ALEXANDER SETTINERI Writer Bio: SILBER...........................................................BRODERICK CLAVERY JOHN ANTHONY............................................SERGIO MAURITZ ANG* THE BLACK STAG / THE OMNISCIENT VOICE......KORIE LEE BLOSSEY* *denotes AEA membership

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

MATTHEW LIBBY “SISTERS” Matthew Libby is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, by way of Los Angeles. His play DATA won the Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award, and was adapted as a digital production presented by the Tony-winning Alliance Theatre in May 2021, a production featured in a New York Times review of virtual theatre works that “clear a path toward continued innovation and growth of the form.” Matt is a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow, Theater Masters Visionary Playwright, Neukom Award winner, two-time Princess Grace Award finalist, three-time O’Neill Playwrights Conference semifinalist, and Blue Ink Playwriting Award featured finalist, and his work has been produced and developed by theaters across the country, including Alliance Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Northern Stage, Pioneer Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Theater Masters, The Barrow Group, The Road Theater Company, WNYU’s Theatre-in-the-Sound, and others. With Stanford Repertory Theater, he helped devise and acted in THE MANY FACES OF FARCE, which was nominated for a 2018 Bay Area Critics Award for Best Production. As a TV writer, he is developing a pilot for Hulu with producer Beau Willimon, and his screenwriting work has been recognized

by The Black List and Script Pipeline. Matt studied cognitive science and creative writing atWriter Stanford Bio: University, and received his MFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was awarded the Chair’s Award for Distinguished Achievement. He is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America and the Dramatists Guild of America. https://www.matthew-libby.com/

ABOUT SMJ

Selected Honors 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship 2023 New York Stage and Film Artist-in-Residence 2020/21 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Prize for DATA (Alliance Theater) 2022 Neukom Award for SISTERS (Northern Stage/Dartmouth) 2020 Take Ten Playwright and 2023 Visionary Playwrights Award (Theater Masters) DGF Mentor: Rajiv Joseph

Representation: Michael Finkle // Luke Virkstis (WME) mfinkle@wmeagency.com // lvirkstis@wmeagency.com

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

SISTERS

by MATTHEW LIBBY

SYNOPSIS Told over the course of 90 years, this is the story of Matilda and Greta, a pair of sisters, growing up, learning from each other, dealing with responsibility and SMJ back together. loss, fighting viciously, drifting apart, andABOUT eventually coming They’re just like any other sisters. Oh, except Greta is an artificially intelligent computer program. But other than that...

CAST LIST MATILDA.............................................................LISA ARRINDELL* GRETA............................................................................JEENA YI* *denotes AEA membership

Writer Bio:

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

SMJ "RACCOON PLAY” SMJ

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

SMJ (they/them) is an NYC-based, mixed-Latiné, and non-binary playwright, musical theater writer, educator, & director originally from Mount Vernon, OH. They are proudly a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. Currently, SMJ is creating work with Ars Nova, The Road Theatre Company, Latiné Musical Theatre Lab, The Orchard Project, and American Theater Group. Their work has been seen in various forms throughout the US including the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film, Lincoln Center, National Queer Theater, Carnegie Mellon University, Otterbein University,

ABOUT SMJ

Wright State University, Art House Productions, UTEP, Andy's Summer Playhouse, The Workshop Theater, The 24 Hour Plays, The Uptown Collective, The Fled Collective, The Tank, and DR2 Theatre. SMJ has been a semifinalist for the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference (2022, 2023, and now 2024), Princess Grace Award at New Dramatists, Van Lier New Voices Fellowship, and The Civilians R & D Group as well as a Finalist for the 2023 Parity Development Award, Write Out Loud Contest, 5th Avenue Theater's First Draft Commission, and the 2021 Doric Wilson Playwright Award. They’re a member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys. www.smjwrites.com

Writer Bio:

Selected Fellowships 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship 2023-2024 Ars Nova CAMP Residency The Orchard Project's 2023-2024 Greenhouse Lab Under Construction 4 Playwrights Group with The Road Theatre Company Julia de Burgos Cohort with Latiné Musical Theatre Lab, Fall 2023 2023-2024 American Theatre Group BIPOC PlayLab

DGF Mentor: Jiehae Park

Representation: Krissy Bylancik WME (862) 485-1536 KBylancik@WMEAgency.com

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

RACCOON PLAY

by SMJ

SYNOPSIS Six young, queer conservatives run the Danville, OH Lions Club, and every year, they host the Danville Lions Club Raccoon Dinner, the largest fundraiser in the town. It's 2022 and the 79th Annual Raccoon Dinner is on the chopping block ABOUT SMJ due to a missing member and a lack of funds. Meanwhile, the Danville Raccoon Club is facing an uproar following some dubious election results before The Great Dinner. However, when a gun, an ominous QAnon drop, and a raccoon insurrection come into focus, no one is sure who is on their side. Untitled Raccoon Play is a political satire about conspiracy theories, gun violence, small-town conservatism, whiteness, the right's response to COVID & the 2020 election, capitalism, pro-life hypocrises, and safe space language.

CAST LIST SLY COOPER..........................................................MARINA SHAY* NOOK...............................................................TAYLOR TRENSCH* ROCKY.. .................................................................HOLLY GOULD*

Writer Bio:

BANDIT..............................................................MEGHAN MCLEOD

AURORA...................................................................KAYLI CARTER *denotes AEA membership

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

CANDIS C. JONES-DIRECTOR CANDIS C. JONES (Director) credits include: Blues For an Alabama Sky(Barrington Stage), Clyde's (Studio Theater);Cullud Wattah, shadow/land (The Public); Unf*kwithable (The Old Globe); School Girls… (Cincinnati Playhouse); My Name is Beatrice (Ojai Playwrights Fest, Atlantic Theater MixFest); Detroit ‘67 (D.C. Signature); The Black Radical Imagination(Williamstown); 53% Of (Alliance Theater); B*tch (Page 73); Everybody (NYU); Trapt(Joe's Pub); House of the Negro Insane (Bay Area Playwrights Festival); Pipeline (Detroit Public Theater); Nike (A.C.T.); The Wolves(American Academy); Brother Rabbit (New Black Fest); Name Calling (Kennedy Center); Morning in America (Primary Stages); TEMBO! (Zanzibar International Film Fest). 2016 Lilly Award winner, WP Theater Lab member 2018-2020, Drama League Alum.

THOMAS DIETER-STAGE MANAGER Thomas Dieter (Stage Manager)’s favorite thing in the world might be working on new plays. Selected workshops & world premieres: Before the Meeting (Adam Bock), The Confession of Lily Dare (Charles Busch), The Last…… (Ngozi Anyanwu), The Loophole (Jay Adana, Zeniba Now), Mark It Down (Charly Evon Simpson), The Master’s Tools (Zora Howard), The Mood Room (Annie-B Parson), The Secret Life of Bees (Lynn Nottage, Susan Birkenhead, Duncan Sheik), Shhhh (Clare Barron), Queen of Versailles (Stephen Schwartz, Lindsey Ferrentino), Sally & Tom (Suzan-Lori Parks). Up next: Teeth (Anna K. Jacobs, Michael R. Jackson). www.thomasdieter.com

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 2022-23 Fellows Mentors Doug Wright Kia Corthron Rajiv Joseph Jiehae Park Sarah Ruhl

Guest Speakers Tom Kitt Lynn Ahrens Stephen Flahrety Rachel Chauvin Christopher Kip Gould Erika Dickeson-Despenza Dael Orlandersmith John McWhorter Carlyle Brown Sam Marks Robert O’Hara Morgan Jenness Chisa Hutchinson Chad Beckim Matt Polk Betsy King Militello, NAMT Frankie Dailey, NAMT Emmanuel Wilson, Dramatists Guild Writer Bio: Eleni Gianulis-Vermeer, Creative Partners Productions Kathy Evans, Rhineback Writers Dria Brown, Broadway Advocacy Coalition Robb Nanus, Broadway Advocacy Coalition Jessica Lit, Dramatists Guild Liz Carlson, New York Stage and Film

DGF FELLOWS PRESENTATION | FALL 2023

Executive Director: Rachel Routh Director of Grants and Programs: Goldie Patrick Director of Operations and Finance: Evelyn So Director of Communications: Alyson Ahrns Director of Development: Weston Ganz Marketing and Events Manager: Jessica Acosta Operations Manager: Caroline Aquino Grants and Programs Coordinator: Sydney Grullon-Matos Executive Assistant and Board Liaison: Dan Gerasimowicz Programs Manager: Jacquelyn Jordan Social Media Strategist: Jannah Kloepfer Development Manager: Louis Otero Grants Associate: Laura Romero Programs Associate: Michael Witkes Room & Reservation Coordinators: ChiChi Anyanwu, Kacey Brashaw, Chima Chikazunga, Alle Mims, Laura Romero, Amani Meliyah, Michael Witkes Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) is a national charity that fuels the future of American theater by supporting the writers who create it. DGF fosters playwrights, composers, lyricists, and bookwriters at all stages of their careers. We sponsor educational programs; provides awards, grants, and stipends; offers free space to create new works; and gives emergency aid to writers in need. By supporting and nurturing the creators of today, we protect the stories of tomorrow.

To make a contribution to DGF and support the Fellows program, visit dgf.org/donate Dramatists Guild Foundation 520 8th Avenue, Suite 2401 New York, NY 10018 Tel: (212) 391-8384 www.dgf.org