The Drama League Reveals 2026 Directors Project Recipients

The Drama League has revealed the twenty-five stage directors receiving the 2026 fellowships, assistantships, residencies, and exchange opportunities collectively known as The Directors Project.
 
Selected from over 1,100 applicants worldwide, the recipients are Adrian Alea, Tatiana Baccari, Liz Carlson, Juliana Morales Carreño, Bronwen Carson, Melissa Crespo, Pria Dahiya, Liz Fisher, Alex Keegan, Emilia Lirman, Felicia Lobo, Rory Pelsue, Charlique C. Rolle, Steven Sapp, and Rebecca Wear. They are joined by the playwrights selected to collaborate in the FutureNow Fellowships, Jenny Connell Davis and Sarah Saltwick, and by Directors Project Alumni Irvin Mason Jr., Aileen Wen McGroddy, Caitlin Sullivan, with five more to be announced, for the International Directors Exchanges.
 
The 2026 Directors Project Fellowship, Residency, and Assistantship Recipients will be publicly welcomed into the professional theater community during the 92nd Annual Drama League Awards on Friday, May 15, 2026 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. For more information, visit www.dramaleague.org.
 

STAGE DIRECTING FELLOWSHIPS:

Tatiana Baccari (she/they) and Emilia Lirman (she/her/ella) are the recipients of The Drama League’s Stage Directing Fellowships. Over two years, they will each receive $100,000 and health care reimbursements, explore their technique at Carnegie Mellon University, lead a workshop during Drama League DirectorFest in New York City, join the artistic team of Playwrights’ Center, and direct short plays at Red Bull Theater. Baccari will also be a part of the artistic teams at Manhattan Theatre Club and New York Stage and Film, while Lirman will be a part of Lincoln Center Theater and Berkeley Rep’s artistic staff.
 

FUTURENOW FELLOWSHIPS:

Directors Bronwen Carson (she/her) and Liz Fisher (she/her) are recipients of the FutureNow Directing Fellowships, where they will work on multiple projects at Chautauqua Theater Company (Chautauqua, NY) this summer. Of most interest will be their own workshop productions of two extraordinary new plays by the FutureNow Playwriting Fellows, as part of CTC’s season. Carson will direct Erasers by Jenny Connell Davis, while Fisher will direct Sarah Saltwick’s The Bone Wars.
 

ROSE DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP:

Rebecca Wear (she/her) is the recipient of the Rose Directing Fellowship, a partnership with London’s Rose Theatre. During her time at The Rose, Melissa will assist Artistic Director Christopher Haydon on the world premiere adaptation of Three Men In A Boat and direct a project for the company’s Youth Theatre.
 

TV/FILM DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP:

Liz Carlson (she/her) and Melissa Crespo (she/her) are the Television and Film Directing Fellows, expanding their creative practice in theater into these related disciplines. They will shadow on episodes of a major television series, under the mentorship of co-creator Tony Phelan (Fire Country, A Small Light, Grey’s Anatomy), and then participate as a director in New York Stage and Film’s Filmmakers Week in Summer 2027.
 
A Special Project Fellowship has been bestowed on Felicia Lobo (she/her) by The Drama League and New York Stage and Film. Ms. Lobo will attend Directors Project Week and spend two weeks assisting on projects at the NYSAF Summer Season in Poughkeepsie.
 

Irene Gandy DIRECTING ASSISTANTSHIPS:

Juliana Morales Carreño (she/her), Pria Dahiya (she/her), and Charlique C. Rolle (she/her) have been chosen for the Irene Gandy Stage Directing Assistantships, which pair early-career directors with established directors. Next season, they will assist on productions across the country with acclaimed directors and mentors Lili-Anne Brown, Melissa Crespo, and Timothy Douglas.
 

NEXT STAGE DIRECTOR IN RESIDENCE:

Steven Sapp (he/him) is the 2026 Next Stage Director in Residence. Throughout the year, he will develop, with his company Universes and co-director Chay Yew, the new musical In The Beginning There Was HOUSE!. They will begin with a developmental week as part of New York Stage and Film’s Summer Season in Poughkeepsie, NY, before returning to New York City later in the year for a second workshop.
 

Beatrice Terry, (RE)ENVISION, AND (RE)ENGAGE DIRECTORS IN RESIDENCE:

Three week-long developmental residencies will take place at Hubbard Hall Center for the Arts and Education in Cambridge, NY. The Beatrice Terry Director in Residence, Alex Keegan (she/her), will develop Lolly, an adaptation of the novel “Lolly Willowes” by Sylvia Townsend Warner, with her co-adaptor Ryan Adelsheim. Rory Pelsue (all pronouns), the inaugural recipient of the (Re)Envision Residency, will direct his new adaptation (with Sophie-Siegel Warren) of Richard III by William Shakespeare. Finally, the (Re)Engage Director in Residence, Adrian Alea, will develop The Last Orchid Farm In Cuba, a reimagining of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard co-conceived by Alea and author Cristina García.
 

INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORS EXCHANGE:

The Drama League will continue its International Directors Exchange by supporting delegations of American stage directors attending major theater festivals: the Malta International Theatre Festival, to be held in June in Poznań, Poland, will welcome Ms. Carlson, Alisha Espinosa, Irvin Mason Jr., Aileen Wen McGroddy, and Caitlin Sullivan, with ambassador and previous IDE Recipient Gosia Wdowik. In September, a delegation to be announced will attend the Sirenos International Theatre Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania.
 
The 2026 Directors Project Recipients will join the ranks of 491 Drama League Alumni including Tony Award Winners Christopher Ashley (incoming Artistic Director, Roundabout Theatre Company), Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown), Sam Gold (Angry Alan), Michael Mayer (Chess), Diane Paulus (Masquerade), John Rando (Back To The Future: The Musical), Danya Taymor (The Outsiders), Rebecca Taichman (Sing Street), Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!), Tony nominees Lear deBessonet (Kewsong Lee Artistic Director, Lincoln Center Theater), Anne Kauffman (Marjorie Prime), Lila Neugebauer (Appropriate), Whitney White (School Girls), Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Bernhardt/Hamlet), Obie Award Winner Arin Arbus (Frankie and Johnny…), Alan Schneider Award winner May Adrales (Dakar 2000), Callaway Award winner Mike Donahue (Troy), and more.