Playwrights at Work: January & February

Welcome New Members of the Resident Company!

New Dramatists, an artistic home and developmental laboratory for professional playwrights, is proud to announce the addition of five writers to its illustrious, dynamic resident playwright company: 

Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig 
Tony Meneses 
Jonathan Payne 
reid tang
Seayoung Yim

They will be in residence through June, 2032. These outstanding theatre artists were selected by a seven-person committee of New Dramatists current residents, alumni, and outside theatre professionals from a pool of 584 applicants after undergoing a highly competitive, ten-month review and consensus-based decision-making process. New Dramatists will kicked off their seven-year residencies in September, 2025 at the annual New Playwright Welcome, an evening of readings and celebration.

New Dramatists Mourns the Loss of Joseph A. Maffia

Joe and his artwork: Joe Maffia, in front of his personal "tag" on a graffiti tag art wall, at 118 THE LANE pizza parlor, London, July 2025.

On the morning of Friday, August 15, 2025 New Dramatists' board member Joseph A. (Joe) Maffia passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly. In the six short years that he's served on our board, Joe has become an anchor for the organization and a dear, treasured friend. All of us at New Dramatists extend our deepest condolences to Joe's wife, MJ; his daughters Jessie and Michelle; his sister and brother Roma and Maurice; his grandson Liam; and to the entirety of Joe's expansive circle of family and friends.

Welcome Zoë Rhulen, the 2025-26 Princess Grace Fellow!

Congratulations to Zoë Rhulen who received the Princess Grace Award in Playwriting for her play, Dirt. Zoë will be the Princess Grace Fellow in residence with New Dramatists for the 2025-26 season.

New Dramatists administers the application process on behalf of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA. Applications are accepted each year in early March.

Houghton Hall Arts Community: Our Home Away from Home

New Dramatists, a playwright development organization that supports playwrights through seven-year residencies, is itself “in residence” during the current season: It is with gratitude that we announce the totality of our work – administrative and artistic - is taking place at Houghton Hall Arts Community, 22 East 30th Street, while we assess and conduct needed repairs to our building on 44th Street.  

2025-2026 Welcome to the Board!

New Dramatists, an artistic home and developmental laboratory for professional playwrights, is proud to announce the addition of new Board members, Lysna Marzani, Managing Director of Theatrical Rights Worldwide, and current resident playwrights, Ariel Stess, and Andrea Stolowitz, and the reappointment of Ken Urban, an alum who will remain on the board until June 2026.

New Dramatists' Statement of Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion

The principles of equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion (EDAI) are embedded in the founding of our organization. To read our EDAI mission and values statement, and to learn about the process for articulating this community statement and putting it into practice, please click here 

Thanks to Our Fall 2025 Educational Interns!

Our heartfelt thanks go out to our fall interns, Emma Cenholt-Haulund, from NYU-Tisch and Leona Koo, from NYU-Steinhardt, and to Mya Ison, here on a fellowship from Hunter College.

The Bernard B. Jacobs Academic Internship Program was named in memory of the late President of the Shubert Organization, who discovered and mentored many talented theatre people during his lifetime. This program at New Dramatists offers a unique opportunity for early-career theatre artists and managers to learn about artist-led development and the operations of a non-profit arts service organization in New York City. Interns receive academic credit for their work with us through this program. Learn about the program.

Welcome New Staff Members!

New Dramatists is thrilled to announce the addition of DJ Brumfield to the small but mighty New Dramatists staff as our new Development Director. We know he'll be a key driver of securing support for New Dramatists and our core mission, at this crucial moment in our organizational trajectory. Thank you to the board members and resident writers who helped us interview candidates for this role.

AND, also this fall, we are fortunate to welcome Alex Church Gonzales, our 2025-2026 Playwrights' Lab Assistant. The Playwrights Lab Assistant is a season-long position for an early-career theatre practitioner to support a wide range of playwright and new play development processes.