Liberation Theatre Company Seeks Applications For Year Three Of Their Writing Residency Program

Liberation Theatre Company (LTC), a Harlem-based independent theatrical producer and playwright development company established in 2009, is inviting applications from early-career playwrights to participate in the third year of their Writing Residency Program for 2019-2020.

The Writing Residency Program accepted its first class of playwrights in 2017-2018. LTC will select four early-career Black playwrights and provide them with dramaturgical and professional support over a ten-month period, during which time they will each be required to complete the first draft of an original full-length play.

Funding for the program has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and The Left Tilt Fund.

"The Writing Residency Program is at the core of our mission to expand the number of Black playwrights working in theatre, so that more voices reflecting more diverse viewpoints can be expressed," said Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, Producing Artistic Director of Liberation Theatre Company. "Now in our third year, we are seeing an even greater interest in this program. The number of applicants our second year was almost four times the number in our first, and we anticipate a large pool again this year. We are delighted to be able to provide this opportunity."

The deadline to submit an application is Monday, April 1, 2019. Submissions may only be made using the form found at this link:
https://liberationtheatrecompany.submittable.com/submit/5c907b4a-3660-476a-8ac0-e896f892b304/liberation-theatre-company-writing-residency-program-2019-2020?fbclid=IwAR3YxmKOdsQ6fr-lWocl8eRNN5MRWdvGjeVzq5gc-ac1PvMHpTNswCzEE24

Beginning in May 2019, selected playwrights will attend monthly group meetings to share and refine their works-in-progress in a collaborative, energized setting; meet individually with LTC's Artistic Director and staff who will provide additional support for their artistic needs, concerns and process; and have the resources of a director and professional actors during a table reading as their plays begin to take shape.

Additionally, through connections with the larger New York City theatrical community, LTC will provide access to theatre tickets (when available) and seek to make introductions with artistic leaders to assist playwrights in advancing their careers.

The Writing Residency Program will conclude in February 2020 with public readings of the finished plays. Upon successful completion of the program, each playwright will receive an honorarium.

Liberation Theatre Company was established in 2009 with the mission to create a home for emerging Black playwrights to develop their work and express themselves artistically in a supportive and focused environment. LTC offers dramaturgical services, professional readings, and for eight years also facilitated a widely successful Black Playwrights Group (BPG). Past BPG members include James Scruggs (3/Fifths), James Anthony Tyler (Dolphins and Sharks) and Dennis A. Allen II (The Mud is Thicker in Mississippi ).

In 2010, LTC initiated Harlem9, a successful collaboration of Black theatre producers in Harlem, which began producing the annual 48Hours in... Harlem 10-minute play festival in August 2011. 48Hours in... Harlem received an Obie Award in 2014, and several anthologies of plays written for the festivals have been published and made available to drama schools, libraries and the general public.

LTC is managed by Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, co-founder and Producing Artistic Director, Spencer Scott Barros, co-founder and Associate Artistic Director, and Bernard J. Tarver, Associate Producing Director.