Company of Playwrights
New Dramatists conducts a thoughtful, rigorous admissions process that ensures the equitable distribution of our resources to the next generation of playwrights. Each year, 5 to 8 playwrights are selected to join the company while another 5 to 8 residents complete their seven-year residencies. Our outreach and selection process spans nine months and consists of four rounds, in which a panel of seven theatre professionals, purposely diverse in all aspects—including race, age, gender, ability, sexual orientation, as well as in aesthetic and geographic backgrounds—collectively winnow down the list of applicants, by consensus, to determine a new incoming group.
We’re delighted to share that this season, from 398 applicants, our admissions panel has elected to offer residencies to the following seven writers: Will Arbery, Kevin Artigue, Gracie Gardner, Dipika Guha, Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, Madhuri Shekar, and Ariel Stess. They will be in residence until 2026.
This new cohort joins one of the most diverse and eclectic communities of writers found anywhere. Of our 59 playwrights of the 2018-19 season (including incoming and outgoing classes and one fellow), 47% are of non-white ethnic origin, 61% are female, 29% identify as LGBTQ+, and nearly 70% reside within the five boroughs of New York City.
Their work runs the gamut from traditional “well made” plays, to cutting-edge experimental theater, to TV, film, and other media.
POST-RESIDENCY: NEW DRAMATISTS ALUMNI
Since 1949, over 700 outstanding American playwrights have been served by New Dramatists. Many of those writers began at New Dramatists as unknowns and earned national notoriety while in their residencies here.
SEE THE CURRENT LIST of New Dramatists’ Alumni
Entrances & Exits
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Annual Admissions Cycle
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Welcoming the Class of 2025
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Celebrating the Class of 2019
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2018-19 Princess Grace Fellow
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2018-2019 Resident Playwrights
