Talene Monahon Named 2026 McNally Fellow at the Hermitage
Playwright is a Pulitzer finalist for MEET THE CARTOZIANS, a New York Times Critic's Pick at Second Stage Theater.
Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, has announced that Talene Monahon will be the 2026 designee of the McNally Fellowship at the Hermitage, made possible with generous support from the Terrence McNally Foundation. This residency sponsorship is intended to support the Fellowship of an early-career playwright who is making a meaningful impact in the theater. In collaboration with the McNally Foundation, the Hermitage has selected Pulitzer Prize finalist and Hermitage Major Theater Award finalist Talene Monahon as the 2026 McNally Fellow.
Monahon is a Boston-born playwright of Armenian and Irish descent. She is a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her play Meet the Cartozians, which premiered Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater in fall of 2025. Meet the Cartozians was also a New York Times Critic's Pick and was recognized on Vulture's 'Top 10 Best Plays of 2025' and TheaterMania's 'Top 5 Plays of 2025.' Monahon's other plays include The Good John Proctor, Jane Anger, and How to Load a Musket.
'The Hermitage is deeply grateful to the Terrence McNally Foundation for their continuing support and passionate belief in the work we are doing,' said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. 'It has been a joy to collaborate with our friend Tom Kirdahy as a fellow advocate for new voices, and he's been such a champion of the Hermitage and its mission. We are honored to celebrate Terrence's incomparable legacy by providing the gift of space and time to the next generation of prolific voices in the theater, and we are excited to welcome Talene Monahon as the 2026 recipient of this honor.'
Tom Kirdahy, a Tony and Olivier Award-winning theater and film producer and the late Terrence McNally's husband, is the president of Tom Kirdahy Productions and a principal trustee of the McNally Foundation. Kirdahy's work spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, the West End, and beyond. Among his current and recent producing credits are the Tony Award-winning revival of Ragtime at Lincoln Center Theater; the Broadway smash-hit musical Just in Time; Stephen Sondheim's posthumous Off-Broadway musical Here We Are, which starred Tony Award winner and Hermitage Fellow Rachel Bay Jones; Terrence McNally's Kiss of the Spider Woman film starring Jennifer Lopez; the hit Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors; and Hadestown, the winner of eight Tony Awards on Broadway including Best Musical, along with the recent film release and the Olivier Award-nominated West End production.
'We are incredibly proud to support the work the Hermitage is doing,' added Kirdahy. 'The Hermitage is a world-class arts incubator – not only for playwrights and theater artists, but for so many extraordinary talents of all different backgrounds and disciplines. The gift they are giving to these innovative and imaginative writers, performers, and artists is invaluable. We are excited for Talene to continue her creative journey with this Hermitage residency in Terrence's name.'
The Terrence McNally Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to supporting bold new voices in the American theater by providing support to early-career playwrights and the institutions that support them. The McNally Foundation's mission to champion new playwrights aligns with the mission of the Hermitage Artist Retreat: to inspire and foster the most influential and consequential art and artists of our time. Created by legendary playwright/librettist Terrence McNally and supported through the ongoing royalties of his work, the Foundation is also committed to supporting LGBTQ+ causes, as McNally did throughout his life. Following Terrence's passing, Tom Kirdahy stated that the Foundation would continue the legendary playwright's 'singular legacy of mentorship and activism.'
A leading national arts incubator, the Hermitage is the only major arts organization in Florida's Gulf Coast exclusively committed to supporting the development and creation of new work across all artistic disciplines. The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key home for multi-week residencies, where diverse and accomplished artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, dance, film, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free year-round community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world's leading artists and to get an authentic 'sneak peek' into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major galleries, concert halls, theaters, and museums around the world. These free and innovative programs include performances, conversations, readings, music concerts, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.
For more information about the Hermitage and upcoming programs, visit: HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
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