John Clinton Eisner News

Longtime En Garde Arts Chairperson and board member Joan D. Firestone is being honored with the creation of a fund in her name. En Garde Arts has raised $100,000 through a group of generous donors. This is a five year endeavor and every year one theatre artist will receive an $18,000 award and will have full freedom with how to use the funds.

After many long months of responding to pandemic-related crises and seeking paths to sustainability, The Lark has commenced an orderly wind-down and initiated discussions with peer institutions to re-home existing Lark programs and fellowships.

Reservations are now open for A Dozen Dreams, an immersive theatrical installation based on the pandemic-inspired dreams of 12 leading American playwrights. Produced by En Garde Arts and presented by Arts Brookfield, A Dozen Dreams premieres at Brookfield Place on Thursday, May 13 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 30.

The 2021 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to U.S. playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza for her play about the Flint, Michigan water crisis, cullud wattah. Awarded annually since 1977, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is the largest and oldest international prize honoring Women+ playwrights.

At the start of the global pandemic, En Garde Arts invited twelve women playwrights to share their pandemic dreams. Now, these dreams will be brought to powerful life with A Dozen Dreams, an immersive installation of sets, lights, video, and sound.

The Lark, an international play development laboratory dedicated to amplifying the voices of playwrights, is thrilled to announce May Adrales (Vietgone, Luce) as its new Artistic Director.

The Lark, an international play development laboratory dedicated to amplifying the voices of playwrights, announces that founder John Clinton Eisner is retiring after 27 years as Artistic Director, with the intent to hand over leadership to a new generation of theatrical talents.

John Clinton Eisner co-founded The Lark in 1994 as a community of theater professionals dedicated to the playwright’s vision. He has grown The Lark into an award winning “think tank for the theater,” with local, national and global reach. 

The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment today announces the first-ever study of its kind, 'ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE: NYC Small Theater Industry Cultural and Economic Impact Study.' This groundbreaking report calls attention to the vibrance of the small theater community, and offers an in-depth portrait of the size, makeup, location, overall cultural importance and economic impact of the sector; as well as the challenges the industry is facing.

The Lark announces that Leah Nanako Winkler, author of Kentucky, Two Mile Hollow, and Death for Sydney Black, will be the 2017-19 recipient of the Jerome New York Fellowship. The fellowship, designed to support an early career writer of extraordinary ability, promise, and vision, provides stipends of $25,000 in the first year and $15,000 in the second, in addition to an Opportunity Fund of $5,000 to be used for purposes of additional creative expenses such as travel, research, and workshops. The fellowship is designed to be a life-sustaining platform of support, allowing the fellow to focus on their craft, and to generate and develop a significant body of work.

Samuel French has announced the winners of the 2017 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation's premier short play competition.

Samuel French has assembled a distinguished judging panel including playwrights Jiehae Park, James Hindman, Lauren Yee and Rachel Bonds; Artistic Directors Andrew Leynse (Primary Stages), Jonathan Silverstein (Keen Company), Susan Westfall (City Theatre, Miami), Emily Morse (New Dramatists) and Ciera Iverson (National Alliance of Musical Theatres); and industry professionals John Clinton Eisner (The Lark), Michael Walkup (Page 73), Abigail Katz (Atlantic Theater Company).

Samuel French has assembled a distinguished judging panel including playwrights Jiehae Park, James Hindman, Lauren Yee and Rachel Bonds; Artistic Directors Andrew Leynse (Primary Stages), Jonathan Silverstein (Keen Company), Susan Westfall (City Theatre, Miami), Emily Morse (New Dramatists) and Ciera Iverson (National Alliance of Musical Theatres); and industry professionals John Clinton Eisner (The Lark), Michael Walkup (Page 73), Abigail Katz (Atlantic Theater Company).

The New Black Fest and The Lark, two theater organizations dedicated to celebrating and advocating for extraordinary and diverse stories, have announced the third annual The New Black Fest at The Lark.

BEFORE THE INAUGURATION - Immigrant Voices need to be HEARD!

Perry-Mansfield has announced the full lineup for their 2016 New Works Festival. The 19th Annual festival, held on June 10 and 11 in Steamboat Springs, CO will develop five new works in partnership with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) Theatre Company, The Lark, Primary Stages, and South Coast Repertory.

The Lark, a 22-year-old play development lab dedicated to expanding the range of perspectives represented on stage in the United States, is proud to announce the continuation of its partnership with The New Black Fest, a theater organization celebrating provocative storytelling, film and discussion from the African Diaspora.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) announces the 2015 Round 3 recipients of the Leadership U[niversity] - One-on-One program.

The Lark has announced that Mary Hamilton, author of We Three, The Plan, One of the Women and The Building and Unbuilding of the Saxophone Sunset, will be the recipient of the Jerome New York Fellowship for 2015-2017.

The Lark and Playwrights of New York (PoNY) are proud to announce that Martyna Majok, author of Ironbound, a Top Ten play for the 2014 Kilroys' list, will be the recipient of the 2015-16 PoNY Fellowship which provides over $100,000 in comprehensive career support.