Bonnie Antosh Awarded 2026 Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission

Playwright and screenwriter Bonnie Antosh has been awarded the 2026 Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission. Produced by The Lee Strasberg Creative Center with support from The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, the commission will culminate in a fully staged production at the historic Marilyn Monroe Theatre on December 10-12, 2026. The production will be directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy and performed by a cast of NYU Tisch Drama students.

For more than a decade, The Lee Strasberg Creative Center has championed the creation of new ensemble-driven works by emerging playwrights. Since its inception in 2012, the initiative has supported over a dozen writers, including Lucy Thurber, Aniello Fontano, Crystal Skillman, Sarah Gancher, Reynaldo Piniella, Calamity West, and Dylan Guerra. Several commissioned projects have continued beyond their initial development and gone on to further productions, including Sarah Gancher's The Place We Built, Frank Winters' Student Body (originally The School Play), and Crystal Skillman's Pulp Vérité.

Inspired by the The Group Theatre and the groundbreaking ensemble works of Clifford Odets, the commission provides playwrights with a rare opportunity to create original plays specifically for a company of actors. At a time when large-cast ensemble works are increasingly difficult to develop and produce, the program offers dedicated resources for experimentation, collaboration, and artistic risk-taking.

By bringing together emerging playwrights, directors, and Method-trained actors, The Lee Strasberg Creative Center creates a laboratory for new theatrical work. The commission continues the legacy of Lee Strasberg, Clifford Odets, and The Group Theatre while supporting contemporary artists in developing original stories through an ensemble-driven creative process.

Bonnie Antosh

is a playwright & screenwriter from both Carolinas & NYC. She's a staff member at the Sewanee Writers' Conference, a Samuel French OOB Festival winner, and an alum of The Road's Under Construction Cohort. Recently, her plays have been nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and developed by the Denver Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, PlayPenn, Threshold Theater in Minneapolis, and City Theatre Miami. Her EST/Sloan commission LEMURIA is the 2025 winner of the NC New Play Project's Mark Gilbert Award; it's also been a finalist for Seven Devils, New Roots, and SETC's Getchell New Play Contest. BA: Yale. BonnieAAntosh.com