Berkshire Theatre Group to Host Four Playwrights in 2026 Residency

Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) and Artistic Director, CEO Kate Maguire are pleased to welcome four playwrights to the Berkshires this spring as part of its ongoing Playwright Residency in collaboration with Roundabout Theatre Company. The 2026 residency will take place March 16 through March 29 at BTG's Mortimer-Lloyd Artist House in Pittsfield.

This annual residency provides playwrights with dedicated time and space to write, reflect and exchange ideas in a supportive artistic environment. Designed as a retreat rather than a production deadline, the program emphasizes creative development, collaboration and long-term investment in new work.

The 2026 resident playwrights are Alix Sobler, Iraisa Ann Reilly, Danny Tejera and Phillip Gregory Burke—four artists whose work spans theatre, film, television and interdisciplinary performance and who represent a wide range of voices shaping contemporary American theatre.

“Supporting playwrights at every stage of their process is central to who we are as an organization,” said Kate Maguire. “This residency is about creating space—for listening, risk-taking and imagination—while building relationships that sustain artists well beyond a single project. Our partnership with Roundabout allows us to do that in a meaningful and deeply human way.”

Alix Sobler is a New York–based playwright, writer and performer whose work has been produced or developed at theaters around the world, including Roundabout Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, Alliance Theatre, South Coast Repertory and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Iraisa Ann Reilly is a writer, performer and educator whose solo work and screenwriting have been developed with Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Lucille Lortel Theatre and Latinx Playwrights Circle, among others. Danny Tejera is a Madrid-born playwright and screenwriter whose play Toros was a New York Times Critic's Pick and earned a Lucille Lortel Award nomination. Phillip Gregory Burke is a playwright, actor and artivist whose work explores identity, legacy and justice, and who has received support from National Black Theatre, NALAC and other national organizations.

The residency is part of an ongoing collaboration between Berkshire Theatre Group and Roundabout Theatre Company that began in 2021, rooted in a shared commitment to sustained new play development. In 2022, the partnership expanded to include staged readings at The Unicorn Theatre, inviting audiences into the creative process and giving playwrights the invaluable opportunity to hear their work brought to life.

Since its inception, the program has become an integral part of BTG's artistic ecosystem, fostering ongoing relationships between playwrights, directors and the wider Berkshire community. Initiated through conversations led by BTG Associate Artistic Director David Auburn, whose long-standing dedication to new work continues to shape the program, the collaboration reflects BTG's commitment to nurturing plays beyond their earliest drafts. In partnership with Roundabout Theatre Company's nationally recognized new works initiatives, the residency offers artists rare time and space to step away from daily demands and focus deeply on their creative practice.