The Drama League and MTC Present COST OF LIVING Talkback at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, Manhattan Theatre Club in collaboration with The Drama League presented a talkback for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning play the Cost of Living. The talkback included director Jo Bonney, cast member Kara Young, and 2022 Drama League Fellow Ibi Owolabi, who made her Broadway debut as the assistant director in the critically acclaimed production.

The unique opportunity was live-streamed from the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre for online and in-person patrons to get behind the scene details on the production of the show. Board and staff members from The Drama League were present at the event, excited for Ibi Owolabi's success and the collaboration with MTC!

Gaberiel Stelian-Shanks, Artistic Director at the Drama League said, "Manhattan Theatre Club's production of COST OF LIVING brought an extraordinary set of artists into the limelight. In addition to the Broadway debuts of Pulitzer-winning playwright Martyna Majok and legendary director Jo Bonney, it also offered New York audiences the debut of Ibi Owolabi, who was placed as the Associate Director of the production through her Stage Directing Fellowship at The Drama League. Ibi is spending two years in our career accelerator program. In addition to Manhattan Theatre Club, she'll spend the next year directing and/or assisting at New York Stage and Film, Red Bull Theater, Dallas Theater Center, and more before returning to MTC in 2024 to direct work of her own. Ibi is a future superstar, and someday we'll all remember that we first saw her at Manhattan Theatre Club and The Drama League."

Executive Director Bevin Ross stated, "Ibi is just one recipient of many in The Drama League Directors Project, an umbrella of initiatives that we have dramatically expanded this year. It's our mission to provide audiences in theater, film and television with bold new visionaries. Today, the resources we provide are more important than they've ever been, as the need for great artists to examine our world has never been more urgent. We hope more people will join us and our community in this critical, vital work."

Bonnie Comley, the President of the Board of Directors of The Drama League and founder of theatrical streaming service BroadwayHD said, "We've reached a milestone with Ibi's incredible work on COST OF LIVING. Although about a third of Broadway's plays and musicals each season are directed by Drama League alumni, this is the first time our programs have directly placed an early-career director onto a Broadway show. Our partners at Manhattan Theatre Club join us in celebrating the new generation of Broadway. I couldn't be prouder to support the vibrant new talent that will propel our industry forward."

Check out photos below from the event and check out more information about MTC and The Drama League below:

https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com

https://dramaleague.org

Photos: Eugene Gologursky