MTC & Ars Nova Commission Rachel Bonds, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig & More for THE WRITER'S ROOM Program

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director, Manhattan Theatre Club), Barry Grove (Executive Producer, MTC), Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer, MTC), Jason Eagan (Artistic Director, Ars Nova), and Jeremy Blocker (Managing Director, Ars Nova) have announced the 2013-2014 participants for The Writer's Room a new program to commission, develop and support playwrights in the process of creating new work for the stage.

The commissioned writers for 2013-2014 are Rachel Bonds, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Jackie Sibblies Drury, and the band of actors, musicians, and storytellers known as PigPen Theatre Co. They will join Adam Bock (A Small Fire) and Justin Levine (Bonfire Night) collaborating on the creation of a new musical; Thomas Bradshaw (Job);Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale); and Sharyn Rothstein (The Invested), who continue to work on their Writer's Room Commissions from last year.

The Writer's Room is a multi-year partnership between MTC and Ars Nova drawing on each organization's strengths and areas of expertise to create a unique, collaborative developmental program for advancing new works from commission through production. The Writer's Room feeds the programming of The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series, where bold new work meets bold new audiences.

Each year, MTC and Ars Nova jointly select four playwrights or writing teams to receive Writer's Room Commissions. The commissioned writers then come together to participate in a program designed to offer extensive developmental support. The Writer's Room encourages artistic risk taking in an environment that is supportive and sustaining.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country's most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. Over the past three decades, MTC productions have earned a total of 19 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. MTC has a Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and two Off-Broadway theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) leads programming and execution at MTC's Off-Broadway home. Renowned MTC productions include Choir Boy; Murder Ballad; The Assembled Parties; Venus in Fur; Master Class; Good People; The Whipping Man; Time Stands Still; The Royal Family; Ruined; The American Plan; Come Back, Little Sheba; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; A Small Family Business; Sylvia;Putting It Together; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain't Misbehavin.'

For more information on MTC, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

Ars Nova (Jason Eagan, Artistic Director; Jeremy Blocker, Managing Director) is committed to developing and producing theater, comedy, and music artists in the Early Stages of their professional careers, through its myriad of ongoing programs that include: Play Group, Ars Nova's emerging writers' collective, Uncharted, its residency program for musical theater writers, Commissioning and Artists-in-Residence programs, its annual festival of All New Talent (ANT Fest), Artist Retreats, the Out Loud play reading series, a Project Residency program that allows unique projects to get up on their feet, The Writer's Room, a collaboration with Manhattan Theatre Club to support writers in the creation of new work with an eye toward co-productions at MTC's The Studio at Stage II, and its World Premiere Productions. Past productions include: the critically-acclaimed, award-winning electro-pop opera Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, now in an Off-Broadway transfer engagement at Kazino; Eager to Lose, created by Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Wes Grantom, Portia Krieger and Tansy; Core Values; The Lapsburgh Layover; Be a Good Little Widow; Now Circa Then; the Drama Desk nominated musical Bloodsong of Love; the pirate puppet rock odyssey Jollyship the Whiz-Bang; boom, which went on to be the most-produced play of the 2009-2010 season; and Freestyle Love Supreme featuring Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. Each year, the company serves more than 500 artists and at least 150 evenings of entertainment make it onto the Ars Nova stage.

For more information on Ars Nova, please visit: www.ArsNovaNYC.com