| The Drama League Announces Recipients of Record-Breaking 2024 Directors Project | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 08:44 pm EDT 05/06/24 | |
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| THE DRAMA LEAGUE ANNOUNCES THE RECIPIENTS OF THE 2024 DIRECTORS PROJECT NINETEEN EXTRAORDINARY ARTISTS SELECTED IN RECORD-SETTING YEAR FOR APPLICANTS Zoë Adams and Irvin Mason, Jr. Drama League Stage Directing Fellowships Britt Berke, Stefan Dezil, and Karl Michael Iglesias FutureNow Directing Fellowships Emma Denson Rose Directing Fellowship Morgan Green, Lauren Keating, Jess McLeod, and Danny Sharron TV/Film Directing Fellowships Rosalind Bevan, Devin E. Haqq, Karl Michael Iglesias, and Martavius Parrish Irene Gandy Directing Assistantships Sarah Hughes Beatrice Terry Director in Residence Colm Summers Next Stage Directors in Residence Dina Vovsi Next Stage Special Residency Arin Arbus, Jaime Castaneda, and Desdemona Chiang Flm Fund Recipients DOWNLOAD HEADSHOTS New York, NY (May 6, 2024) – The Drama League (Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Director Bevin Ross) and their partner companies announced today the nineteen exceptional stage directors receiving the 2024 fellowships, assistantships, residencies, and fund programs collectively known as The Directors Project. Selected from a record-breaking 1,800 applicants worldwide, the recipients are Zoë Adams, Arin Arbus, Britt Berke, Rosalind Bevan, Desdemona Chiang, Jaime Castaneda, Emma Denson, Stefan Dezil, Morgan Green, Devin E. Haqq, Sarah Hughes, Karl Michael Iglesias, Lauren Keating, Irvin Mason, Jr., Jess McLeod, Martavius Parrish, Danny Sharron, Colm Summers, and Dina Vovsi. The 2024 Directors Project Cohort will be publicly introduced to the professional theater community during the 90th Annual Drama League Awards on Friday, May 17, 2023 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. More information on the Recipients and the Awards can be found at www.dramaleague.org “As the last remaining nonprofit organization wholly dedicated to developing directors at every level of their careers, we do not take our role lightly,” said Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks. “Even still, we were blown away by the overwhelming number of exceptional directors that applied for the Directors Project this year, more than double any previous year. The cohort of directors chosen for these programs offer the world unique, vibrant, complex visions that will entertain and illuminate for decades to come, and we cannot wait to see it come to fruition.” Zoë Adams (she/her) and Irvin Mason, Jr. (he/him) have received the two-year Drama League Stage Directing Fellowships, which offers each of them a $100,000 award, health insurance reimbursement, training and accelerator workshops, and professional directing experiences with Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwright’s Center, Keen Company, Berkeley Rep, New York Stage and Film, and Red Bull Theater. It is the largest directing fellowship of its kind in the world. Britt Berke (she/her), Stefan Dezil (he/him), and Karl Michael Iglesias (he/him) are recipients of the Drama League FutureNow Directing Fellowships, an immersion program which begins with directing, cabaret and assisting assignments at Chautauqua Theatre Company (Chautauqua, NY) this summer. They will then begin pre-production to direct national touring productions for TheaterWorksUSA (NYC) this fall. Emma Denson (she/her) is the first recipient of the new Rose Directing Fellowship, a partnership with London’s Rose Theatre. During her time at The Rose, Emma will assist Artistic Director Christopher Haydon on the world premiere of Never Let Me Go by Suzanne Heathcote, based on the acclaimed novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, which will then embark on a UK tour. Ms. Denson will also direct a project for the company’s Youth Theatre. Morgan Green (she/her), Lauren Keating (she/her), Jess McLeod (she/her), and Danny Sharron (he/him) have been chosen for the Drama League Television and Film Directing Fellowships, expanding their creative practice in theater into these related disciplines. The four recipients will shadow on episodes of major television series, under the mentorship of co-creator Tony Phelan (Fire Country, A Small Light, Grey’s Anatomy). Rosalind Bevan (she/her), Devin E. Haqq (he/him), Karl Michael Iglesias (he/him), and Martavius Parrish (he/him) have been chosen for the Irene Gandy Stage Directing Assistantships, which pair early-career directors from historically marginalized communities with established directors. Next season, they will assist on productions across the country with acclaimed directors Valerie Curtis-Newton, Timothy Douglas, Candis C. Jones, and Rebecca Martínez, respectively, at the Public Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Seattle Rep, among others. Mr. Iglesias is the first director in Drama League history to receive two Directors Project programs in the same calendar year. Colm Summers (he/him) will develop his new play Falls as the 2024 Next Stage Director In Residence, joining Sarah Hughes (she/her), the new Beatrice Terry Director In Residence, who is developing her piece Untitled Dad’s Email Project. Both Mr. Summers and Ms. Hughes will begin with a developmental week as part of New York Stage and Film’s Summer Season in Poughkeepsie, NY, before returning to New York later in the year for a second workshop at The Drama League Theater Center. The Drama League Film Fund, established last year to support Directors Project alumni directing filmed projects, will support new work by Arin Arbus, Jaime Castaneda, and Desdemona Chiang. Ms. Arbus will direct the short film “The Cooperative,” about a fictional secret society in the Catskill Mountains. Mr. Castaneda will receive finishing funds for his latest film, “Sad People,” following two new parents struggling to find a diagnosis for their nonverbal 3-year-old. Ms. Chiang will direct “See You Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow,” about a stand-up comedian who delays his career to care for his 99-year-old grandmother. The 2024 Directors Project Recipients will join the ranks of over 400 Drama League Alumni including Tony Award Winners Christopher Ashley (Come From Away), Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown, Lempicka), Sam Gold (An Enemy of the People), Michael Mayer (A Beautiful Noise), Pam MacKinnon (Artistic Director, A.C.T.), Diane Paulus (1776), John Rando (Back To The Future: The Musical), Rebecca Taichman (Sing Street), Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!), Tony nominees Mark Brokaw (How I Learned To Drive), Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Bernhardt/Hamlet), Alan Schneider Award winner May Adrales (Poor Yella Rednecks), Obie Award winners Lear deBessonet (Into The Woods), Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane), Lila Neugebauer (Appropriate), Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding), Callaway Award winner Mike Donahue (Troy), and more. Ms. Arbus, Mr. Castaneda, Ms. Chiang, Ms. Keating, and Mr. Sharron return to The Drama League this year after previously completing a different Directors Project program. The 2023 cycle of Directors Project programming concludes this week with DirectorFest, produced by Keen Company and featuring the work of Drama League Directing Fellows Ibi Owolabi and Nadia Guevara. For tickets, please visit the ticket portal. The 2024 Recipients will gather for the first time at DirectorFest’s Opening Night on May 9th at Theatre Row in New York City. The Drama League is the preeminent career development home for directors in the United States, providing them with significant experiences and resources to succeed in professional theater, film, television, and new technologies. Its alumni can be found in all aspects of the entertainment profession: on and off-Broadway, at regional theaters, in Hollywood, and as artistic leaders at 100+ regional theaters across the country. Drama League Directors have been honored with the Tony, Emmy, Obie, Drama Desk, Golden Globe, Princess Grace, Bessie, Drama-Logue, Barrymore, Evening Standard, and Jefferson Awards, among others. THE DRAMA LEAGUE 2024 DIRECTORS PROJECT DRAMA LEAGUE STAGE DIRECTING FELLOWSHIPS A two-year program in partnership with Manhattan Theatre Club (NYC), Playwright’s Center (Minneapolis, MN), Keen Company (NYC), Berkeley Rep (Berkeley, CA), New York Stage and Film (Poughkeepsie, NY), and Red Bull Theater (NYC) ZOË ADAMS | IRVIN MASON ZOË ADAMS (she/her) zoecraigadams.com IG: @brings_the_magic Zoë Adams has an eclectic body of work that includes The Christine Jorgensen Show, Wizard of Oz, The Historical Range of Ursus Americanus, Sister Act, Meltdown: A live-action game about Climate Change, In the Name of Us (Best Short Play at DUAF), The Cherry Orchard, Not Clown, Skin Flick City, Stacked at the National Theatre of Croatia, and the immersive supper club Krav. She is the proud recipient of the 2024-2026 Drama League Stage Directing Fellowship. MFA, Directing, Columbia University; SDC Associate. IRVIN MASON, JR. (he/him) irvinmasonjr.com IG: @iirvinmason Irvin is a director, actor, poet, and teaching artist born and raised in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. His work intersects expressive movement, live music, emerging technology, and Afro-Caribbean traditions to breathe new life to physical storytelling. Irvin seeks to direct work that leaves a residue — unapologetic work that dismantles the traditional foundations of theater, and creates space for new voices to tell their own stories. His recent directing credits include: Ain't Misbehavin’ (Gallery-Players), Stuck (Chain Theatre), and Pipeline (Gallery-Players). Assistant Directing: Gospel According to Heather (AMAS, dir. Rachel Klein). In 2023, Irvin served as a directing observer to Schele Williams on the Broadway revival of The Wiz. He was the SDCF directing shadow on Little Shop of Horrors (dir. Maggie Burrows) and Rent (dir. Lili-Anne Brown) at the MUNY. He was also the directing observer on Pup! A Chew Story (NAMT). * * * * * DRAMA LEAGUE FUTURENOW STAGE DIRECTING FELLOWSHIPS A practicum in artistic leadership, in partnership with Chautauqua Theater Company (Chautauqua, NY) and directing a touring production for TheaterWorksUSA (NYC) BRITT BERKE | STEFAN DEZIL | KARL MICHAEL IGLESIAS Britt Berke (she/her) brittberke.com IG: @brittberke Britt Berke is an NYC-based director whose recent projects include the World Premiere of Betty Smith’s Becomes a Woman (Mint Theater Company - Outer Critics Circle Nomination for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play); watch me (NYTW Adelphi Residency); DOGS (Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep); Anne Carson’s Antigonick (Torn Out Theater AKA the “Naked Shakespeare” company); Liberian Girl in Brooklyn (Mabou Mines); Scenes with Girls (TheaterLab NYC / Hudson Theaters LA); and original concert collaborations with NourishNYC and Arts & Climate Initiative. Recent assisting: The Skin of our Teeth dir. Lileana Blain-Cruz (Tony nom); Mud / Drowning dir. JoAnne Akalaitis (Obie Award). Britt is an alumna of the Roundabout Directors Group, MTC Directing Fellowship, NAMT and SDC Observerships, and Mercury Store Directing Intensive. SDC Associate Member. BA, Barnard College of Columbia University. Stefan Dezil (he/him) sdezil.com Born and raised in NY and FL, Stefan Dezil is a bilingual American theater director, filmmaker, and illustrator of Haitian descent. He has worked with Disney, 20th Digital, SpringHill Company, VICE, RevoltTv, Noisey, and Soundcloud. His sci-fi short about American water crises, THIRST, is currently streaming on HULU. For his film The Treadmill, he was nominated for the prestigious international Lumen Prize in the Moving Image category. He also executive produced the narrative feature drama film To Live and Die and Live, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023. His work has been showcased at the Hollyshorts Film Festival, American Black Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Boston SciFi Film Festival, and the Lebanese International Film Festival. He is repped by Ronin Entertainment across all media. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's Fine Arts program, he studied theater direction and painting. Karl Michael Iglesias (he/him) karlmichaeliglesias.com/ IG: @oye414 As a Puerto Rican actor, director, writer, and collaborator, Karl’s recent credits include The Comedy of Errors (Assistant Director, Public Theater), Measure for Measure (Assistant Director, Public Theater), Secret Life of Bees (Assistant to the Choreographer, Atlantic Theatre Company). Film credits: “Home/Where/Is” (Director and Script Editor, 651 Arts). Selected works in development: Cicada (Lincoln Center), and Ofrenda (as part of The Kennedy Center’s Office Hours Residency at the REACH). He is the former Artistic Advisor for the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives at UW-Madison and 2022 Creative Director of the Line Breaks Festival. Karl is recognized as a Puerto Rican Cultural Ambassador by Hunter College. * * * * * DRAMA LEAGUE ROSE DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP A program designed to foster the work of directors interested in career paths in multiple countries, in partnership with Rose Theatre (London, UK) EMMA DENSON Emma Denson (she/her) emmadenson.com IG: @emmadenson Emma Denson is an Alabama-born, Brooklyn-based director and playwright. She was recently selected as a 2024 member of Directors Lab North. In September 2023, she directed the staged reading of the new musical Runaway Home, starring Melissa Gilbert, Michael Park, and Abigail Breslin. She was a 2023 Berkeley Rep Ground Floor Artist on The Keening (Co-Deviser/Associate Director), and won Best Short at the 2023 Downtown Urban Arts Festival for her play, Otis and Anna. She directed two readings of the bilingual Ukrainian play, Hunger (which she co-adapted with Maria Rewakowicz) at Irish Arts Center and at the Ukrainian Museum. She was a director-in-residence at Mississippi State University, and is Associate Director at Origin Theatre Company and a New Georges Affiliated Artist. Select credits: Phaedra's Love (Assistant Director, Columbia University), I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Director, Stagedoor Manor), The Messages (Assistant Director, BRICLab Performing Arts Residency), The Taming of Kate (Director/Deviser, WAXWorks at Triskellion Arts), Emily (Director, The Chain). ***** DRAMA LEAGUE FILM AND TELEVISION DIRECTING FELLOWSHIPS An accelerator for established theater directors expanding into film, television, and online content storytelling MORGAN GREEN | LAUREN KEATING | JESS MCLEOD | DANNY SHARRON MORGAN GREEN (she/her) morganclairegreen.com IG: @easybeinggreen Morgan Green is currently a Co-Artistic Director at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, where she recently premiered the Pulitzer Prize winning Fat Ham by James Ijames, Eternal Life Part 1 by Nathan Alan Davis, and School Pictures by Milo Cramer, which went on to Playwrights Horizons in New York and was lauded as best production of 2023 in New York magazine. She was a co-founder of the award-winning theater company New Saloon, best known for Minor Character: Six Translations of Uncle Vanya at the Same Time (The Invisible Dog, The Public Theater, Sharon Playhouse). Other credits include: Staff Meal by Abe Koogler (Playwrights Horizons), The Music Man (The Sharon Playhouse), The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe (Marin Theatre Company), and Cute Activist by Milo Cramer (The Bushwick Starr). Her short film ONE MORE TIME WITH FEELING premiered at the Raindance Film Festival in London, October 2023. Morgan has developed new work at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Bric, Baryshnikov Art Center, Mabou Mines, and Mercury Store. She is a New Georges Affiliated Artist and proud member of SDC. LAUREN KEATING (she/her) lauren-keating.com IG: @keatlo Lauren Keating made her off-Broadway debut to NYT acclaim with Josh Koenigsberg’s Al’s Business Cards. Her work for screens includes “The Feminist Cooking Show,” which trended on Stareable, and POWER OUT, a Most Selected Short on FilmFreeway. Keating has developed work with many organizations, including the Public Theater, Playwrights’ Center, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, Cleveland Play House and the Guthrie Theater. New work collaborators include writers Dipika Guha, Sarah Burgess, L.M. Feldman and Micheal Mitnick. Her own adaptations of classic works include Wedekind’s Lulu, Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Comedy of Errors. She has been honored with fellowships from the Mellon Foundation/TCG, Time Warner Foundation and the Drama League. She resides on the East Coast with her wife and daughter. JESS MCLEOD (she/her) jess-mcleod.com IG: @mejessmc Jess McLeod is currently Artist-In-Residence at the NYCLU (Creatives Rebuild); Woolly Mammoth’s BOLD Resident Director; Lead Curator of Roundabout’s Refocus Project, and Co-Chair (with Michael Korie) of the DGF’s Musical Theatre Fellows Program. Recent NY credits include 2ST, MTC, Roundabout, Atlantic, Little Island and P73. Regional credits include The Thanksgiving Play, Venus (Steppenwolf); Hang Man, Wolf Play, (The Gift); RADICAL or, are you gonna miss me (IAMA); There’s Always the Hudson (Woolly Mammoth); The Chinese Lady (Cincinnati Playhouse); Hype Man (ATL); Pride and Prejudice (Long Wharf); Do You Feel Anger?, Fulfillment Center (A Red Orchid); and Earth To Kenzie (Lyric Opera of Chicago). Jess has developed new work at The Public, The O’Neill, WTF, NAMT, NYSAF and Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. She spent three years as Resident Director of Hamilton Chicago and is under commission at La Jolla Playhouse. MFA, Northwestern. 1st Gen Korean-Filipina-Scottish American. DANNY SHARRON (he/him) dannysharron.com IG: @dannysharron DANNY SHARRON has developed and directed work with The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Woolly Mammoth, Ars Nova, LAByrinth Theater Company, Primary Stages, Ma-Yi, and New York Stage and Film. He is a recipient of New York Theatre Workshop's 2050 Fellowship, Williamstown's Bill Foeller Fellowship, and The Drama League's New York Fellowship and Next Stage Residency. For five years, Danny was the Senior Associate Director on Dear Evan Hansen (Tony Award for Best Musical), overseeing four companies: Broadway, West End, Toronto, and the U.S. National Tour. He is currently the US Associate Director on the current Broadway revival of Cabaret. * * * * * DRAMA LEAGUE STAGE DIRECTING ASSISTANTSHIPS Opportunities for early-career directors who are members of marginalized populations and communities to assist on major productions led by BIPOC directors ROSALIND BEVAN | DEVIN E. HAQQ KARL MICHAEL IGLESIAS | MARTAVIUS PARRISH Rosalind Bevan (she/her/hers) rosalindbevan.com IG: @rozbev Rosalind Bevan is a director, producer, and casting director now based in Los Angeles after 8 years in Boston. Her directing credits include Stew at Gloucester Stage; No Child…, And Then We Baked Bread, and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 at Newton Theatre Company; Echoes and The 54th in ‘22, two short audio plays at The Huntington. and Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet, The Moors, and Proof at Boston University. She associate directed Arrowhead at IAMA Theatre Company and is associate director of Tiny Father at the Geffen Playhouse. Rosalind has also led workshops at various colleges and universities including Boston Conservatory, Northeastern University, Emerson College, Tufts University, and Wabash College. Rosalind holds a BFA in Theatre Arts Design and Production with an Emphasis in Directing from Boston University. As part of the Irene Gandy Assistantships, Rosalind will assist Candis C. Jones on a production during the 2024-2025 Season. Devin E. Haqq (he/him) devinehaqq.weebly.com/ IG: @devin_e-haqq Devin E. Haqq is an Emmy-nominated producer, a member of the Roundabout Directors Group Cohort 4, a member of the Fiasco Theatre Acting Company, an IFP alumni, and a Finalist for the 2020 HBOAccess Directing Fellowship. His feature film, “Ambition’s Debt,” won the 2017 Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the prestigious American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and the 2018 Paul Robeson Award Honorable Mention at the Newark Black Film Festival. He made his stage directorial debut in 2020 with a much celebrated production of the critically acclaimed Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu at Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ. Devin has directed workshops and staffed as an associate director on productions for such organizations as The Public Theatre, The Roundabout Theatre Company, The Folger, Shakespeare's Globe, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Fiasco, and the National Black Theatre. As part of the Irene Gandy Assistantships, Devin will assist Valerie Curtis-Newton on her production of Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage at Seattle Rep. Karl Michael Iglesias (he/him/his) karlmichaeliglesias.com/ IG: @oye414 As a Puerto Rican actor, director, writer, and collaborator, Karl’s recent credits include The Comedy of Errors (Assistant Director, Public Theater), Measure for Measure (Assistant Director, Public Theater), Secret Life of Bees (Assistant to the Choreographer, Atlantic Theatre Company). Film credits: “Home/Where/Is” (Director and Script Editor, 651 Arts). Selected works in development: Cicada (Lincoln Center), and Ofrenda (as part of The Kennedy Center’s Office Hours Residency at the REACH). He is the former Artistic Advisor for the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives at UW-Madison and 2022 Creative Director of the Line Breaks Festival. Karl is recognized as a Puerto Rican Cultural Ambassador by Hunter College. As part of the Irene Gandy Assistantships, Karl will assist Rebecca Martínez on her production of Comedy of Errors at the Public Theater, NYC. Martavius Parrish (he/him) MartaviusParrish.com IG: @MartaviusParrish Martavius Parrish is a New York City-based Broadway director, performer, teaching artist, and creative entrepreneur. As a director, he’s currently mounting Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine at the historic Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn. He was most recently the Associate Director for Once Upon A Mattress at New York City Center and Resident Associate Director for the limited engagement tour of Into The Woods. Mentored by Tony-nominated and Drama League/Obie Award-winning Director Lear deBessonet, he was the Assistant Director of the show’s New York City Center and Broadway runs. The production received six Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival and Best Direction of a Musical. Other directing credits include workshops of Disney’s Hercules and Oliver! at NYCC. Martavius’ direction focuses on revitalization of classic works, with an emphasis on community engagement, accessibility, and transformative inquiry through the lens of perspectives historically targeted by oppression. As part of the Irene Gandy Assistantships, Martavius Parrish will assist Timothy Douglas on his production of Primary Trust by Eboni Booth at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. * * * * * BEATRICE TERRY DIRECTOR IN RESIDENCE A director-led developmental process preparing a new work for the stage, in residence at New York Stage And Film (Poughkeepsie, NY) and The Drama League Theater Center (New York, NY) SARAH HUGHES developing Untitled Dad Emails Project written and directed by Sarah Hughes SARAH HUGHES (she/her) sarahcameronhughes.com Sarah Hughes is a director of new plays, radical adaptations, and devised work. Recent: Daphne by Renae Simone Jarrett (LCT3), Galatea by MJ Kaufman (Brooklyn Bridge Park), His Chest Is Only Skeleton by Julia Izumi (Playwrights Horizons), #GRACED by Vanessa Garcia (Zoetic Stage). Sarah is an Associated Artist of New Georges and Target Margin Theater, worked for many years with Elevator Repair Service, and has taught at Dartmouth College, Purchase College, and NYU. As Director of Artistic Programming at Theatre Row, she created the Kitchen Sink Residency for new work development. SDCF Barbara Whitman Award Finalist, Mercury Store Lead Artist, National Directors Fellow, WP Theater Directing Lab Member, Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow. Upcoming: A Woman Among Women by Julia May Jonas (The Bushwick Starr/New Georges). About Untitled Dad Emails Project: A performance piece devised from 14,000+ email exchanges, covering everything from climate change to free speech, between a father and daughter on opposite sides of the political divide. Exploring scientific inquiry, online polarization, and familial bonds, this project asks how we form our beliefs and whether, in the face of apocalypse, it's ever possible to change them. NEXT STAGE DIRECTOR IN RESIDENCE A director-led developmental process preparing a new work for the stage, in residence at New York Stage And Film (Poughkeepsie, NY) and The Drama League Theater Center (New York, NY) COLM SUMMERS developing Falls written and directed by Colm Summers COLM SUMMERS (he/him) colmsummers.com IG: colm_summers Colm Summers is an award-winning Irish director-writer, based in NYC, and the new Artistic Director of the Working Theater. Most recently, he directed Every Brilliant Thing at the Geffen Playhouse by Duncan MacMillan, starring Daniel K Isaac (Theaterly's Best of 2023). Colm has developed work with Berkeley Rep, New York Stage & Film, Rattlestick Theatre, Abbey Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, Irish Rep and more. He was a 2023 Groundfloor cohort member at Berkeley Rep and was the inaugural Resident Director at both the Geffen Playhouse and at the Abbey, the National Theater of Ireland. In 2023, he won Ireland's Next Generation Artist Award. He is a writer in the Origin Theater / Irish Arts Center playwrights’ group and BMI Musical Theater Book Writers Workshop. About Falls: When a young father is diagnosed with Parkinsons, he does everything in his power to protect his relationship with his son. As his physical condition deteriorates and their roles are reversed, his every expectation of fatherhood falls away. Will he lose himself or - worse - his son, in the process? Set in rural Ireland, against the backdrop of the seasons of change in a man's life, these dance-theater episodes trace the contours of father-and-son's relationship from son's birth to Dad's death. NEXT STAGE SPECIAL RESIDENCY A developmental process at The Drama League Theater Center (New York, NY) DINA VOVSI developing The Blue Parts Co-Created by Liba Vaynberg and Dina Vovsi, Written by Liba Vaynberg Directed by Dina Vovsi DINA VOVSI (she/her)) dinavovsi.com IG: @dinavovsi Dina Vovsi is a member of the 2022-2024 WP Theater Directors’ Lab and The New Georges Jam, and was a 2023 Brooklyn Arts Council Grantee and Puffin Foundation Grantee for RIVER WATCHERS, a site-specific, journey-based play on a 14-seat Langley canoe in Newtown Creek. New work with The Civilians, New Georges, Working Theater, Cape Cod Theatre Project, The Orchard Project, The Bushwick Starr, and more. New Georges Affiliated Artist, alumna of Roundabout Directors Group, Brooklyn Arts Council SU-CASA Grantee, Brooklyn Arts Council Grantee for the collaborative soundwalk EXITS, Robert Moss Directing Fellow at Playwrights Horizons, The Civilians’ R&D Group, SDCF Observership at HVSF, a member of the Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab. Directing faculty, Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. About The Blue Parts: “Welcome to Brighton Video. What do you need? We have. Or something like. Oh, you no speak Russian?” Customers aren’t flocking to Marina’s store, but one stormy afternoon, she finds herself sheltering Abdur, a teenager on a mission to save the whales. A story of inclusion and exclusion in American democracy, The Blue Parts examines how politics and personality intersect in one of New York City’s most famous neighborhoods, Brighton Beach. ***** THE DRAMA LEAGUE FILM FUND Supporting Directors Project Alumni expanding their work into film and television projects ARIN ARBUS | JAIME CASTANEDA | DESDEMONA CHIANG ARIN ARBUS (she/her) arinarbus.com Arin Arbus made her Broadway debut directing Terence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (Tony nom. for Best Revival) starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon. Arbus won an Obie for her production of The Skin of Our Teeth. She’s directed twelve productions at Theater for a New Audience, most recently Denis Johnson’s Des Moines and Waiting for Godot. She’s also directed for Clubbed Thumb, Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, Chicago Lyric, Shakespeare Theater of DC, Woodbourne Correctional Facility in association with Rehabilitation Through the Arts, and at Ristona Refugee Camp for The Campfire Project. She was a Princess Grace Award recipient, a Drama League Fellow and a member of Soho Rep’s Writer/Director Lab. Ms. Arbus will direct the short film THE COOPERATIVE, about a fictional secret society in the Catskill Mountains. JAIME CASTANEDA (he/him) About Jaime Jaime Castaneda has directed Poor Yella Rednecks and Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (American Conservatory Theater), The Luckiest by Melissa Ross, Seize the King by Will Power, At the Old Place by Rachel Bonds, Guards at the Taj by Rajiv Joseph (La Jolla Playhouse), The Canadians by Adam Bock (South Coast Repertory), Chimichangas and Zoloft by Fernanda Coppel (Atlantic Theater Company), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz (Dallas Theater Center), The Royale by Marco Ramirez (American Theater Company), The Motherfucker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis (Kitchen Dog), Tiger Style! by Mike Lew (O’Neill), Welcome to Arroyo’s by Kristoffer Diaz (Old Globe), and Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp (Perseverance Theatre). His first short film ALEJANDRO premiered at the New York Latino Film Festival. Jaime’s second short film was produced by Film Independent through Project Involve. Drama League fellow, Princess Grace Award, MFA University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Castaneda will receive finishing funds for his latest film, SAD PEOPLE, following two new parents struggling to find a diagnosis for their nonverbal 3-year-old. DESDEMONA CHIANG (she/her) desdemona.org IG: deschiang Desdemona Chiang is a Taiwan-born American director and writer based in Seattle, WA and Ashland, OR. She has over 20 years of experience directing in the American regional theatre and writes stories about unique intergenerational immigrant experiences. Her TV pilot MADE IN USA was developed with the Sundance Episodic Program, The Orchard Project, The Writers Lab, and was a winner of the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab. Her TV pilot ZHIZHA! was developed as part of Film Independent’s Episodic Lab (sponsored by Netflix) in February 2024. Desdemona is also part of the inaugural cohort of the Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship and the AFI DWW+ class of 2024, where she wrote and directed a short film adaptation of MADE IN USA (CAPE Julia Gouw Award Honorable Mention). MFA Directing: University of Washington. Ms. Chiang will direct SEE YOU TOMORROW TOMORROW TOMORROW, about an aspiring stand-up comedian who opts to delay his career to care for his 99-year-old grandmother. * * * * * Programs of The Drama League are made possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters including the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, the Sylvia W. & Randle M. Kauders Foundation, the Jolene McCaw Family Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Leo Shull Charitable Fund for the Arts, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. Drama League programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. A special thanks goes out to Drama League Members, who provide important underwriting support for The Directors Project. The Drama League is the preeminent career development home for directors working in theater, film, television, and new technologies. Founded in 1916, it is one of the nation’s oldest continuously-operating, not-for-profit arts advocacy and education organizations. For information about its membership, programs, and awards, please call 212.244.9494. # # # www.dramaleague.org www.instagram.com/dramaleague www.facebook.com/dramaleague www.tiktok.com/dramaleague |
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