Applications Now Open for 2017-2019 Huntington Playwriting Fellows Cohort

The Huntington is now accepting applications for the 2017-2019 Huntington Playwriting Fellows Cohort. To be eligible, writers must live at least nine months of the year in the Greater Boston area. Applications can be submitted online and all accompanying materials must be submitted via email to submissions@huntingtontheatre.org no later than 11:59PM on Thursday, October 27, 2016. Early submissions are encouraged, and submissions are read roughly in the order they are received.

"When we instituted an open application process in 2009, we were astonished by the number and quality of applicants," says Director of New Work Lisa Timmel. "Nearly six years later, we continue to be bowled over by the depth of writing talent in the Greater Boston area. It's always exciting to get a look at fresh plays by writers we know and to get to know new voices."

Through the Huntington Playwriting Fellows program, the Huntington fosters the talents of local playwrights at all stages of their careers, from emerging talents to established professionals. Fellows are awarded two-year residencies during which they are provided a modest grant, participate in a bi-weekly writers' collective, and benefit from access to the artistic staff and to the resources of the Huntington. The Huntington Playwriting Fellows program is supported by the Stanford Calderwood Fund for New American Plays and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

ABOUT THE Huntington Theatre Company'S NEW PLAY INITIATIVES AND PLAYWRITING FELLOWS PROGRAM
The Huntington Theatre Company is a leader in the development of new plays and has produced 120 world, American, or New England premieres. The cornerstone of activity is the Huntington Playwriting Fellows (HPF) program, a two-year fellowship for selected local writers. A three-year, $245,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon foundation adds local playwright Melinda Lopez to the Huntington's full-time staff as playwright-in-residence. The annual two-week Breaking Ground Reading Series of new plays and Summer Workshopallows selected HPFs and national writers to develop their plays through daily rehearsals with actors and in front of a live audience.

The Huntington Playwriting Fellows (HPF) program creates relationships between a local community of writers and a nationally prominent producing theatre, forges those bonds through authentic conversation and artistic collaboration, and encourages dialogue between local artists. Huntington productions of plays by Fellows include Milk Like Sugar and Luck of the Irish by Kirsten Greenidge, The Atheist, Brendan, and The Second Girl by Ronan Noone, Stick Fly and Smart People by Lydia R. Diamond, Sonia Flew and Becoming Cuba by Melinda Lopez, Ryan Landry's "M" and Psyched by Ryan Landry, Before I Leave You by Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel, and Shakespeare's Actresses in America by Rebekah Maggor.

Since 2003, the HPF program has invited writers to participate in two-year residencies, during which playwrights receive a modest honorarium, join in a biweekly writers' collective with artistic staff, attend Huntington productions and events, and are eligible for readings and support through the Breaking Ground Reading Series. The program provides a framework for an in-depth, two-year artistic conversation and a long-term professional relationship. The Summer Workshop, which began in 2012, was developed from conversations with Fellows past and present to solicit ideas about how to improve and expand the program.

Since 2009, the Huntington has instituted an open application process with submissions from any writer primarily based within commuting distance of Boston; applications are currently solicited every 18 months. The theatre selects two to three writers whose terms overlap with adjacent cohorts.

ABOUT THE Huntington Theatre Company

Celebrating its 35th season, the Huntington Theatre Company is Boston's leading professional theatre and one of the region's premier cultural assets since its founding in 1982. The Huntington is the recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award and was named Best of Boston 2013 and 2014 by Boston magazine. Bringing together superb local and national talent, the Huntington produces a mix of groundbreaking new works and classics made current to create award-winning productions, runs nationally renowned programs in education and new play development, and serves the local theatre community through its operation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso and in residence at Boston University, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.