Commissions and Fellowships

MTC’s most recently announced commissioned artists.*

Manhattan Theatre Club is proud to support artists through a robust array of commissions and fellowship programs. Read on to learn more about these initiatives and the formidable theatermakers they support.

Judith Champion Playwriting Fellowship

Launched in the 2022-23 season and fully supported by the late Judith Champion, philanthropist and former MTC Patron, this Fellowship provides artistic and financial resources to one playwright each season to write and develop a new commissioned play in residence at MTC. Fellowship recipients will also participate in the life of the institution in a manner tailored to their strengths and interests. In addition to a commission, the recipient will be provided with 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.

 

2023-2024 Fellow: Sanaz Toossi

Sanaz Toossi Sanaz Toossi is an Iranian-American playwright from Orange County, California. Her plays include the critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning English (co-production Atlantic Theater Company/Roundabout Theatre Company) and Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons; Williamstown/Audible, released 2020). She is currently under commission at Atlantic Theater Company (Launch commission; Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation grant), Roundabout Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Repertory, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (American Revolutions Cycle). In television, Sanaz recently staffed on “Invitation to a Bonfire” (AMC); “A League of Their Own” (Amazon); “Five Women” (Marielle Heller/ Big Beach); and sold an original idea, “The Persians,” to FX with Joe Weisberg & Joel Fields attached as Executive Producers. Sanaz is a member of Youngblood and the Middle Eastern American Writers Lab at the Lark, and an alum of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writers’ Group. She was the 2019 P73 Playwriting Fellow, a recipient of the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award, the 2022 recipient of The Horton Foote Award and, most recently, the 2023 recipient of the Best New American Play Obie Award. MFA: NYU Tisch

 

2022-2023 Fellow: Zora Howard

Zora Howard is a Harlem-bred writer and performer. Plays include STEW (2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Drama League nominee for Outstanding Play; Page 73 Productions), THE MASTER’S TOOLS (Williamstown Theatre Festival), AtGN (Oberlin College), BUST (2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist), and HANG TIME. Her work has been developed with SPACE at Ryder Farm, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Primary Stages, and Cape Cod Theatre Project, among others. In 2020, her feature film Premature (2020 Film Independent John Cassavetes Award nominee), which she co-wrote with director Rashaad Ernesto Green, opened in theaters following its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. She was the 2020-2021 Van Lier New Voices Fellow at the Lark and is currently under commission from Seattle Rep, MTC, and Wessex Grove. 

The Sloan Initiative

Established in 2000 through a partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this program awards commissions for new plays that explore scientific or technological themes and supports productions of plays surrounding these themes. The partnership began with MTC’s production of David Auburn’s acclaimed play Proof, which went on to win the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Since then, over 100 Sloan commissions have been awarded. Click here to learn more about this program.

Edgerton Foundation New Play Commission

In partnership with the Edgerton Foundation, MTC established this program to award new play commissions to visionary American artists. Playwrights currently under commission include:

Christina Anderson

Jeff Augustin

John J. Caswell, Jr.

Heather Christian

Joshua Harmon

Aleshea Harris

Martyna Majok (co-commissioned with the Almeida Theatre)

Dominique Morisseau

Qui Nguyen (co-commissioned with Geffen Playhouse)

Sharr White

Erika Sheffer

Whitney White

Anna Ziegler

Bobbie Olsen Play Commission

Funded by an endowment from former MTC Board Member Bobbie Olsen, this program commissions a growing number of American and international playwrights each season. Playwrights currently under commission include:

Will Arbery

Aziza Barnes

Vivian J.O. Barnes

Bekah Brunstetter

Emily Feldman

James Graham

Ella Hickson

C.A. Johnson

Anchuli Felicia King

JC Lee

Abby Rosebrock

Amy Rosenthal

Alexis Scheer

Jonathan Spector

Simon Stephens

Sanaz Toossi

Jenny Rachel Weiner

Additional support for Amy Rosenthal’s commission is provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

Drama League/MTC Directing Fellowship

Manhattan Theatre Club is thrilled to partner with the Drama League to create this two-year program that offers robust support to early-career directors. Click here to learn more and submit an application for the inaugural fellowship class.

 

Ibi Owolabi smiling at the camera.

Ibi Owolabi is the current Drama League Stage Directing Fellow, with a residency at Manhattan Theatre Club that led to her recent Broadway debut as the AD on Cost of Living.  Her work has been seen at 7 Stages, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Theatre Emory, The Weird Sisters Theatre Project, and the DC Black Theatre Festival. Ibi is a graduate of Georgia Southern University, the Actors Express directing internship, and the Kenny Leon fellowship. Ibi directed several Zoom productions, including Well-Intentioned White People, Good Bad People, Stew, and Faith. Ibi’s recent in person productions include a socially distanced You on the Moors Now at USC, The Bluest Eye at Synchronicity Theatre, Intimate Apparel at Actor’s Express, and Good Bad People at True Colors Theatre.

Other Commissions

An array of other contributors provide critical commissioning support to some of the most exciting playwrights working today. Playwrights currently under commission include:

BANK OF AMERICA COMMISSION

Eboni Booth

Halley Feiffer

Lindsey Ferrentino

Daniel Goldfarb

Dave Harris

Rajiv Joseph

David Lindsay-Abaire

Sarah Ruhl

Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Bess Wohl (co-commissioned with Williamstown Theatre Festival)

 

MARY MILL COMMISSION

Molly Smith Metzler

 

VIRGINIA B. TOULMIN FOUNDATION COMMISSION

Christine Quintana

* Header image: Top, L to R: Aleshea Harris, Alexis Zegerman, Charlie Oh, Dave Harris, Diane Exavier, Simon Stephens, Kristin Slaney, J. Nicole Brooks, Martyna Majok, Khiyon Hursey. Bottom, L to R: Eboni Booth, Else Went, Franky D. Gonzalez, James Ijames, Joshua Harmon, Whitney White, Will Arbery, Heather Christian, Qui Nguyen, Sanaz Toossi