NATIONWIDE: Four regional theatres have initiated their first co-commission in a unique partnership. People’s Light, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, City Theatre Company, and Northlight Theatre have jointly commissioned Lauren Gunderson to adapt Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and the work will have a rolling world premiere between 2024 and 2026.
“There’s nothing quite like the joy of receiving an email from Lauren Gunderson that starts with ‘Oooooh I love this idea!’ That was her response when I first reached out about her adapting Little Women,” said People’s Light producing artistic director Zak Berkman, who originated the commission idea, in a statement. A draft has been completed and will receive a development workshop at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in September.
“Alcott is such a radical storyteller, even as her work is often misunderstood as simply sweet Americana,” said Gunderson in a statement. “I wanted this adaptation to be as spritely, robust, and surprising as Alcott and her work. Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women blends the rebelliousness of both Alcott and her semi-biographic heroine Jo into a version with all the romance, wit, and brazenness of the novel but the fresh agility and intimacy of the stage.”
The Bay Area-based Lauren Gunderson has consistently been ranked as one of America’s most-produced playwrights according to data compiled by this magazine. She has been previously produced by all four partner theatres.
NEW YORK CITY: Eboni Booth has been announced as the 2024-25 recipient of Manhattan Theatre Club‘s Judith Champion Playwriting Fellowship. Awarded annually, the fellowship provides one playwright artistic and financial resources to develop a new commissioned play while in residence at MTC. Previous recipients include Sanaz Toossi and the inaugural fellow Zora Howard.
“We are thrilled that Eboni Booth, who has been a member of the MTC family since 2017, is joining us in this new and exciting capacity,” said MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow in a statement. “We are also looking forward to continuing to honor Judith Champion’s legacy as an ardent supporter of artists and their work with our third Champion Playwriting Fellow. Judi believed wholeheartedly in empowering the most talented writers of our time to continue creating new and exciting work for the stage, and we remain extremely grateful for her contributions to MTC and to the theatrical community at large. I am sure that Judi would be proud of the impact Zora, Sanaz, and now Eboni are making and will continue to make on the American theatre.”
The fellowship recipient is provided a living allowance, access to office and rehearsal space, a ticket stipend, and a developmental workshop of at least one play during their fellowship year.
Eboni Booth is a writer and actor from New York City known for plays like Primary Trust, which won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and Paris, produced by Atlantic Theater Company.
SARASOTA, FLA.: Florida Studio Theatre, The Recovery Project, and the Terrence McNally Foundation have announced Jake Brasch as the recipient of the Terrence McNally Recovery Commission, which includes a $10,000 award and support for the development of a new play. Playwright Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss and The Light in the Piazza) will mentor Brasch over the course of one year.
Inspired by Terrence McNally’s journey to recovery and sobriety, the Recovery Project aims to transform the narratives surrounding the public health crisis of addiction through new play productions and workshops. This is the initiative’s first commission and will culminate in a work-in-progress showing at FST.
“By being able to commission artists in recovery, not only do we continue to let people know that recovery is possible, but we also get to uplift and demonstrate that many artists in recovery are thriving,” said Sean Daniels, director of The Recovery Project. “Personally, as an artist in recovery, I’m grateful to The Terrence McNally Foundation and FST for being real leaders in how we not only create more art but also keep our artists alive.”
Jake Brasch is an emerging playwright from Colorado and a graduate of Julliard’s playwriting program. They are the winner of the Kennedy Center’s 2024 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, a member of the 2024 Page 73 Writers Group, and a 2023-2024 Alliance/Kendeda Finalist.
NEW YORK CITY: The Prince Fellowship, in association with Columbia University School of the Arts, has announced George Strus as the recipient of The Prince Fellowship and Eric Emauni as the recipient of the Prince/TTLP Fellowship.
Selected fellows receive a stipend and budget for the development of a new theatrical production, access to courses in Columbia’s MFA theatre management and producing program, and mentorship from industry producers and specialists. Late Broadway producer and director Harold Prince initiated the program to usher in the next generation of creative producers. Additional support was provided by The John Gore Organization and The Broadway League.
George Strus is a Tony-nominated and Obie-winning non-binary Latiné producer and dramaturg based in New York. Credits include the 2023 off-Broadway world premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, and the Broadway premieres of Oh, Mary! and Illinoise. They are also developing Moisés Kaufman and Sasha Velour’s Velour: A Drag Spectacular.
Eric Emauni is a Tony-nominated producer, world builder, and founder of Iconic Vizion Productions. Credits include Fat Ham, Dana H, and off-Broadway Kinky Boots. He is an alum of TedxBroadway Young Professionals, Theater Producers of Color, and Beth Morrison Producers Academy and he is also the recipient of the AKA 500 Hour Producers of Color Initiative and the I AM SOUL Producer in Residence at National Black Theatre.
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