Trademark Theater Selects Three Artists for 2026 IN THE WORKS Commissions

Trademark Theater has announced Meghan Kreidler, Jason Zencka and Brandon Zang as the three artists commissioned for its IN THE WORKS program.

Through the program, the three artists will develop original works exploring subjects including punk-rock history, political paranoia and identity.

Kreidler, Zencka and Zang will each create new work as part of Trademark Theater's ongoing commitment to the development of original theater.

MEGHAN KREIDLER — ANYA

Exploring the life and legacy of a downtown New York punk icon.

ABOUT ANYA: Anya explores the life of Anya Phillips, the downtown New York 'It Girl' of the late 70's/early 80's punk and no-wave scene. In her brief 26 years of life, Phillips was instrumental in shaping the look, attitude, and ethos of one of New York's most gritty and unfiltered eras. Anya aims to shed light on this lesser known individual and asks how one person's impact can send ripples across time.

ABOUT MEGHAN: Meghan Kreidler is an actor and musician from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her theater credits include work with Theater Mu, Mixed Blood Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Children's Theatre Company, Theater Latté Da, History Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Park Square Theatre, Workhaus Collective, The Old Globe, Indiana Repertory Theatre, and Cleveland Playhouse. Notable roles include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (Guthrie Theater), Rosalind in As You Like It (Guthrie Theater), Aldonza in Man of La Mancha (Theater Latté Da), and Tong in Vietgone (Mixed Blood Theatre). She is a recipient of the 2017 Ivey Award for Emerging Artist, the 2017 City Pages Artist of the Year, and the 2022-2023 McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship.

Kreidler is also known for fronting rock band Kiss the Tiger. The band has opened for notable acts such as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Lucinda Williams, Lake Street Dive, Sammy Rae and the Friends, Gary Clark Jr., The Hold Steady, Low Cut Connie, and more. In 2023 Kiss the Tiger were included as a Featured Artist on the inaugural 'Live List' put on by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and The Black List. Kiss the Tiger are featured in the 2025 season of STAGE for Twin Cities PBS.

JASON ZENCKA — CRAZY PILLS

A dystopian tragicomedy about conspiracy, corruption, and losing sight of what is right in front of us.

ABOUT CRAZY PILLS: In an America teetering on the edge of fascistic collapse, a group of activists gather in secret to plot their great work: a guerilla-style video documentary of such searing vision it will roust a complacent citizenry from hibernation. But as the night wears on, national corruption and political nefariousness give way to discussion of more commonplace conspiracies underlying the strange and terrifying people the activists have let themselves become. Crazy Pills is a tragicomic dystopian farce about how our desire to apprehend the big picture draws our gaze away from what's right in front of our faces.

ABOUT JASON: Jason Zencka is an artist and teacher based in New York State. His play The Plea, drawn from his experience as an investigator for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, was featured at the Redhouse Arts Center's BabelFest: A Festival of New American Plays and the Pivot Contemporary Arts Festival in Syracuse, NY. His writing has been featured in One Story, Epoch, Five Points, StoryQuarterly, Image Journal, the Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses Anthology, and his work has been listed among the Distinguished Stories of the Year by the Best American Short Stories. The opera Voir Dire, which featured his libretto, premiered in Fort Worth in 2017 and was performed in Boston in 2024. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

BRANDON ZANG — WHEN YOU DIE YOU GO TO SKYRIM

A speculative, genre-bending exploration of identity, diaspora, belonging, and the enchantment of starting over.

ABOUT WHEN YOU DIE YOU GO TO SKYRIM: Dan is a white guy from Ohio. Dan gets hit by a car. Dan wakes up in a fantasy world filled with elves and mages and dragons. And unlike before, Dan is now Asian. In this post-racial retelling of the isekai genre, When You Die You Go to Skyrim takes an honest look at the so-called 'male loneliness epidemic' and the mass nihilistic escapist tendencies of a generation who has just entered the Great American Workforce. If you get the chance to start over in another world, a better world, do you (or any of us) actually have what it takes to be the hero this time around?

ABOUT BRANDON: Brandon Zang is a playwright from Vancouver, British Columbia. Through speculative worldbuilding, Brandon reimagines questions of diaspora and belonging, grounding immigrant narratives in genres ranging from mystical realism to solarpunk. Brandon's plays have been produced by CHUANG Stage (Nüwa in Fairyland), Cellunova Productions (The Recursion of a Moth), Boston Playwrights' Theatre (The Recursion of a Moth), and The Theater Offensive (Xiaohu Dreams of Snow, forthcoming), and has received developmental support from the Kennedy Center, Lifeline Theatre, The Road Theatre Company, the Boston Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, Millay Arts, Sewanee Writers' Conference, Boston Theater Company, Queen's University, East 15 Acting School, and the College of Charleston. Awards include the Voaden Prize (Queen's University), the David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award (KCACTF), the National Student Playwriting Award Second Place (KCACTF), and the Pacific Rim Prize (Kumu Kahua Theatre). Brandon is a proud alumnus of Boston Playwrights' Theatre at Boston University, where he received his MFA. He teaches playwriting at Boston University's School of Theatre, and he is also a freelance dramaturg and translator. He is currently based between New York City and Boston.

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF NEW THEATER

For Trademark Theater, commissioning is the beginning of a longer relationship between an artist, their work, and the audiences who will eventually experience it. By supporting ideas before they are fully formed, IN THE WORKS creates room for experimentation, collaboration, and discovery, strengthening the pipeline of original theatrical work in the Twin Cities and beyond.

As Trademark enters its 10th anniversary season, the program reflects the company's ongoing commitment to championing artists who take big swings, challenge expectations, and create stories that speak to the complexities of contemporary life.

To learn more about the IN THE WORKS program and Trademark Theater's approach to developing new theatrical work, visit trademarktheater.org/in-the-works-info.

ABOUT TRADEMARK THEATER

Founded in 2017 by award-winning theater artist Tyler Michaels King, Trademark Theater is a Twin Cities–based nonprofit dedicated to creating, developing, and producing new theatrical works. Now in its tenth season, Trademark champions bold stories, innovative forms, and daring artists, connecting adventurous local audiences with original work that entertains, challenges, and inspires. Through commissioning, development, and world-premiere productions, Trademark invests in new stories from their earliest conception through to full production.

Learn more about Trademark Theater at trademarktheater.org