Harold Clurman Playwrights Division Seeks Playwrights of Color

The Harold Clurman Playwrights Division, a program of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, is now accepting new play submissions. In the eighth annual search for a resident playwright, the division is calling for new dramatic works written exclusively by playwrights of color. The division is also seeking ensemble plays for casts of seven to ten female roles or gender neutral roles; playwrights of all ethnicities are welcome to apply with an ensemble play.

The Playwrights Division was created to support emerging playwrights. The playwright-in-residence program identifies one writer annually. Each residency is unique and writers work with the Artistic Director Tom Oppenheim to build a year of activities that will be beneficial to them and their process. For one year the resident writer has the opportunity to make use of the studio's resources to advance their craft, spend time on works-in-progress or develop new work. The "playwright's choice" model has resulted in a number of projects including new works receiving a showcase production from the studio's Harold Clurman Lab Theater or being paired with a creative team to collectively conceive and design a new play. Resident playwrights receive a modest stipend and have access to studio space, members of the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theatre Company and student actors for readings and workshops. The ensemble play program seeks to identify plays with large casts for training programs.

Said Artistic Director Tom Oppenheim, "The Playwrights Division aims to find the best emerging playwrights and to support them and their creative process holisticly and intensively. Because we believe that diversity in the theater is as important as it is in America and all of our communities, this year we are focusing on work from playwrights of color. I look forward to encountering the plays of the writers who submit their plays for consideration."

In 2014-2015 the Harold Clurman Playwrights Division named Sam Byron the playwright in residence and also supported four additional writers, Barbara Blumenthal Ehrlich, Mike Duffy, Adam Kraar and Dan McCabe, who were finalists in the residency search.

THE HAROLD CLURMAN LABORATORY THEATER COMPANY is the Stella Adler Studio of Acting's/Art of Acting Studio's professional theater company. The Lab aims to produce socially relevant theater committed to the standards and ideals set out by Stella Adler, Harold Clurman and the Group Theater. The mission of the Lab is to provide the community, through theater and discussion, with a place of exploration and experimentation of what it means be a human being. Select production history: Mercy Killers by Michael Milligan (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, Fringe First Award), Lebensraum by Israel Horovitz (off-Broadway, Ovation-Nominated in Los Angeles), Long Way Go Down by Zayd Dohrn (West Coast premiere, Ovation Award Nominee), Our Town by Thornton Wilder, What Shall I Give My Children? by Don K. Williams (world premiere).