Youlim Nam Selected as 2026 Resident Artist at HB Studio

New York City-based playwright, actor, and producer Youlim Nam has been selected as a 2026 Resident Artist at HB Studio. Nam will develop her original full-length play, New Year's Day (Sae Hae), culminating in a public reading. The work is an original bilingual play centering on a Korean immigrant family and explores themes of identity, generational conflict, and cultural inheritance.

The play follows Hannah, a Korean-American high school student deciding between attending NYU Stern School of Business or relocating to Seoul to pursue a career in the global K-pop industry. As she navigates these divergent paths, she is forced to confront unresolved tensions within her family and her own understanding of identity as a second-generation Korean-American.

A short version of the work, David's New Year, was presented at the Chain Theatre One-Act Winter Festival in February 2026. Also directed by Lisa Milinazzo, the production received strong audience response and reflects the continued development and public presentation of Nam's original work in established New York theater venues.

Nam serves as the playwright and creative lead of the project, continuing to build a body of original theatrical work that contributes to contemporary conversations around Korean-American identity and representation on stage.

The residency production is directed by Milinazzo, a veteran director with an established career in theater and film. She has directed actors including Marin Ireland, Anthony Rapp, and Alec Baldwin, and has staged premieres by prominent playwrights such as Eve Ensler. Her work has been presented at recognized institutions including Irish Repertory Theatre, Rattlestick Theater, and 59E59 Theaters. She currently serves on the faculty of graduate programs at NYU Tisch and Columbia University.

HB Studio's Rehearsal Space Residency is awarded to a limited number of artists annually and provides dedicated resources for the development of new work, supporting artists whose projects demonstrate artistic merit and potential for further production.

The 2026 residency cohort also includes new works by Ciera Miller and Emma Harlow, and CB Murray.

Nam's selection for this competitive residency, along with the continued public presentation of her work, reflects her growing recognition as a playwright and her ongoing contributions to the field of contemporary theater.