Hunter College Partners With Breaking The Binary Theatre For Public Master Class Series

The Hunter College MFA Playwriting program will offer a series of public master class workshops in collaboration with Breaking the Binary Theatre, a new play development and community building organization that serves transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ theatre artists.

Each workshop will be led by a Breaking the Binary-affiliated theatre artist and will include a short lecture, a series of facilitated writing exercises in which all attendees will be invited to participate, and a question and answer portion. These workshops are supported by the Community Engagement Seed Grant program at Hunter College, a program that demonstrates Hunter's commitment to being an anchor institution in New York City.

"I am beyond thrilled that we are partnering with Breaking the Binary Theatre to present these workshops by three incredible artists," Christine Scarfuto, Director of Hunter College's MFA Playwriting Program said. "Not only will our graduate students get to benefit from the artistry and expertise of Basil, Haruna, and Will, but so will our entire community, as we are opening these workshops up to anyone who has ever written or wanted to write a play. I'm so grateful to Hunter College President Nancy Cantor and her team, who deeply value this kind of radical access and community building through Hunter's Community Engagement Seed Grant program."

All three workshops will be free and open to the public and will be held at Hunter College's 68th Street location.

Schedule:

Monday, March 30 (6:30 - 8:30pm) with Basil Kriemendahl
Saturday, April 18 (3:00 - 5:00pm) with Haruna Lee
Monday, April 27 (6:30-8:30pm) with Will Davis

RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/XsUvE6vqTbcksBxWA

Basil Kreimendahl's play Sidewinders won the Rella Lossy Playwright's Award from the San Francisco Foundation and had its world premiere at The Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco as part of their 2013/2014 season, Orange Julius was developed at the 2012 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and included in La Jolla Playhouse's DNA new work series. Basil was commission by Actors Theatre of Louisville for Remix 38 in the 2014 Humana Festival of New Plays. Basil's plays have also been developed by New York Theatre Workshop, About Face Theatre, Inkwell, Rattlestick, WordBRIDGE, The Lark, and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Basil is a Jerome Fellow 2013/2014 at the Minneapolis Playwright's Center, and a recipient of an Arts Meets Activism grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women for theatre work with the trans community in Louisville. Basil has taught playwriting to elementary, high school and college students, founded and ran a playwrights group for queer youth in Louisville called Out On The Edge, and is the Provost's Visiting Writer at the University of Iowa 2013/2014. Basil's work has been published by Dramatic Publishing and included in Xlibria's Becoming: Young Ideas on Gender and Identity. The Cost of a Goat won a National Science Award at KCACTF in 2012. MFA University of Iowa, 2013.

Haruna Lee (They/Them) is a Taiwanese-Japanese-American theater maker, educator, screenwriter and community steward whose work is deeply rooted in liberation and healing. Their plays are often portals into personal and collective stories navigating transcultural experiences and what arises when dealing with the simultaneity, contradictions and pluralities of self. Recent plays include plural (love), Memory Retrograde, Suicide Forest, and 49 Days. Lee is a recipient of the 2026 Creative Capital Award, a 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist and Special Commendation, a 2021 Steinberg Playwright Award, a 2021 Ollie New Play Award, a 2021 FCA Grants to Artists Award, and a 2020 Obie Award for Playwriting and Conception of Suicide Forest. Their writing has been published by Broadway Licensing, Yale's Theater Magazine, Table Work Press, and 53rd State Press. As a performer and collaborator, they've worked alongside artists such as Lynn Nottage, Aya Ogawa, Ralph Lee, Mac Wellman, Minor Theater, The Talking Band, Taylor Mac, and Anohni-among many others. They currently teach at Yale and Hunter in the MFA Playwriting Program.

Will Davis: As a director and choreographer, his work has been seen Off-Broadway at Signature Theatre, City Center, Roundabout Theatre, MTC, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, and Soho Rep. Regionally, his work has been seen at La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Shakespeare Theater Company, Long Wharf Theatre and ATC in Chicago where Davis previously served as Artistic Director. He received a Helen Hayes award for best direction for his work on Colossal at the Olney Theatre Center, was nominated for a Lucille Lortel award for his direction of Men on Boats at Playwrights Horizons, and is the recipient of a Princeton Arts Fellowship. Davis is the Artistic Director of Rattlestick Theater.

Breaking the Binary Theatre is an Obie Award-winning new work development and community building hub wherein transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ (TNB2S+*) artists come together to reclaim our artistic license and liberty through a number of initiatives, including the yearly all-TNB2S+ Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival each October. Founded and led by George Strus (they/them), since Breaking the Binary Theatre's launch in July 2022, the organization has paid out over $900,000 to over 500 TNB2S+ artists. It was recently announced that Breaking the Binary Theatre's presentation of The Drowsy Chaperone in Concert will receive a Special Recognition Honor at the upcoming 37th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, the most visible annual LGBTQ awards show in the world. https://www.btb-nyc.com/

The Hunter College MFA Playwriting Program is a highly-selective and rigorous two-year program located in the heart of New York City. Hunter MFA students study with award-winning dramatists including David Adjmi, Eboni Booth, Lisa D'Amour, Haruna Lee, and Anne Washburn in a program that offers intensive, hands-on writing workshops and fosters a collaborative, close-knit artistic community. With only five students in each cohort, the program ensures each playwright receives dedicated, personal attention. As part of the CUNY system, the Hunter College MFA Playwriting Program is noted for providing an exceptional and affordable education. For more info, click here: https://theatre.hunter.cuny.edu/mfa.