Atlantic Theater Company Unveils 2025 Judith Champion Launch Commissions

Atlantic Theater Company has revealed its Judith Champion Launch Commissioning Program writers for 2025, Zachariah Ezer, Keiko Green, and Emma Watkins.

Now in its 11th year, the Launch Commissioning Program offers early career playwrights support of writing a new play and facilitating relationships in the theater industry. Atlantic’s Literary Manager, Kalina Ko, runs the program, commissioning all writers and facilitating play development. Previous recipients of the commission include Paola Lázaro, Amy Staats, Abby Rosebrock, Tori Sampson, Sanaz Toossi, Lily Houghton, and Brian Otaño. Lázaro, Staats, and Toossi have all received productions at Atlantic since their commissions. Rosebrock’s Launch Commission, Lowcountry, was produced as part of the 2024-2025 season. The program is generously underwritten by Judith Champion.
 
Atlantic’s Artistic Director, Neil Pepe said, "We are excited about our next round of Judith Champion Launch commissioned artists. Zachariah, Keiko and Emma each have distinct and original voices, and we can't wait to see what they write for Atlantic. We are grateful to Judith Champion's legacy for making these commissions possible."

Atlantic’s new play and musical development activities are made possible, in part, by dedicated support from The Tow Foundation, and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation with additional funding from the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. Atlantic productions and programs are also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
 

ZACHARIAH EZER

is a playwright and an Assistant Professor of Performing Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, whose work animates theoretical quandaries through theatrical forms. His plays include The Freedom Industry (Playwrights Horizons’ New Works Lab, The Playwrights Center, New York Stage & Film), Address the Body! (The University of Texas at Austin’s UTNT Festival, Kitchen Dog Theater’s New Works Festival, Echo Theater Company’s National Young Playwrights in Resid ence), The Single Raindrop (The Civilians’ Findings Series, Rorschach Theatre’s Magic in Rough Spaces, The Fade to Black Arts Festival’s Ensemble Theatre Reading Series), Legitime (Fault Line Theatre’s Irons in the Fire), and Black Women in Tech(The Fire This Time Festival, PBS), among others.

He is currently a Dramatists Guild Foundation Catalyst Fellow and a member of The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s Confluence Writers Project. He has received commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/The Sloan Foundation, Theater J, and American Conservatory Theatre. He has attended residencies at The New Harmony Project, Ryder Farm, and Aunt Karen’s Farm. His work has been published by Concord Theatricals/Samuel French, Smith & Kraus, American Blues Theater, and New World Theatre.

Zachariah is also a dramaturg (who has worked with The National Black Theatre, Breaking the Binary, WP Theater, Keen Company, and others), an essayist (published by the University of Texas’ E3W, Gizmodo/io9, HuffPost, and elsewhere), and a performer (in alternative rock band Harper’s Landing).
 

Keiko Green

(she/her) is a playwright, screenwriter and performer, based in Los Angeles and Seattle. Productions include: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! (South Coast Rep; Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Upcoming), Empty Ride (Old Globe), Young Dragon (Seattle Children’s Theatre, Kennedy Center - Upcoming); Gorgeous (Raven Theatre), Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play (Old Globe; San Francisco Playhouse; Pork Filled/SIS Productions - Upcoming), Hells Canyon (Theater Mu; Washington Ensemble Theatre - Upcoming), The Bed Trick (Seattle Shakespeare Company; Artists Repertory Theatre - Upcoming); Wad (American Lives Theatre - Upcoming), Sharon (Cygnet Theatre), and Hometown Boy (Actors Express; Seattle Public Theater). Her plays have been developed by The Old Globe, the Kennedy Center, the National New Play Network, Playwrights Realm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, and twice by the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Past and Current Affiliations: CTG Writers Workshop, Geffen Writers Group, Seattle Rep Writers Group, ACT Core Company, Chance Resident Playwright, Theater Mu’s Mu Tang Clan. She currently holds commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan Foundation and Atlantic Theater Company. Awards/Honors: Susan Smith Blackburn Award Finalist, Kilroys List, San Diego Critics Circle Award (Outstanding New Play), Gregory Award (Outstanding New Play), Sound on Stage Award (Outstanding New Play). As a screenwriter, she has worked on multiple projects, including Hulu’s "Interior Chinatown" and Apple TV's "Margo's Got Money Troubles." As an actor, she has performed at theaters nationwide and originated the role of Connie in Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap at the Denver Center and Seattle Rep. BFA: NYU Drama - Experimental Theatre Wing, MFA: UCSD Playwriting.   
 

Emma Watkins

is a writer from New Jersey and Maine. A recent graduate of the UT Austin MFA Playwriting Program, Emma's plays have been finalists for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Princess Grace Playwriting Award, and the Leah Ryan Prize, semifinalists for the O'Neill and Clubbed Thumb's Biennial Commission, and included on the Playwrights' Center's Venturous List. Beyond writing, she loves foraging for chanterelles, writing music, and listening for hermit thrushes on the Appalachian Trail. She holds a BA from Princeton University in English, Theatre, and Environmental Studies. As a Fulbright Fellow, she completed her MA in Welsh & Celtic Studies from Cardiff University. She's currently under commission from Atlantic Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, and EST/Sloan and has developed work with support from the Kennedy Center and PlayPenn.