Manhattan Theatre Club Reveals Latest Round Of Sloan Playwriting Commissions
The commissioned writers are Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Don Nguyen, and Noelle Viñas.
Manhattan Theatre Club has revealed the latest recipients of their Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Initiative commissions for new theatrical works surrounding themes of science, math, and technology. The commissioned writers are Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Don Nguyen, and Noelle Viñas.
This year's commissioned plays center the cosmic and technological frontiers of our past, present, and future, as well as the many opportunities and challenges that arise from humanity's need to explore in pursuit of advancement. Matthew-Lee Erlbach's The Moon Treaty of 1979, (or the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) uses the high-stakes United Nations negotiations over lunar governance as a lens to examine urgent questions about free scientific inquiry, global power, and the future of the human species. Don Nguyen's Jimmy Carter and his Telescope is a historical drama that imagines a series of intimate conversations between President Jimmy Carter and his longtime friend astrophysicist Carl Sagan, with their cosmic debates mirroring the crushing earthly crises threatening to destroy Carter's presidency. Noelle Viñas's Mother Tongue is an eerie dramedy, flush with trilingual chaos; grief; and squabbling siblings, who navigate their mother's newfound independence sparked by the support of an AI-based program named R.A.U.L., which is utilized by state governments to provide companionship to immigrant seniors who speak “dying languages.”
Since 2001, MTC has awarded over 100 commissions through the Sloan Foundation Program. MTC first collaborated with the Sloan Foundation in 2000 on their production of David Auburn's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Proof. MTC's partnership with the Sloan Foundation has expanded to include multiple annual commissions for writers as well as production grants to stage Sloan-related works. In addition to Proof, Sloan supported MTC's productions of Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy, Rebecca Lenkiewicz's adaptation of An Enemy of the People, Sharr White's The Other Place, Nell Benjamin's The Explorers Club, Nick Payne's Constellations and Incognito, Bess Wohl's Continuity, Anchuli Felicia King's Golden Shield, and Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day.
Matthew-Lee Erlbach
Matthew-Lee Erlbach is a writer, performer, and labor organizer. Recent work includes Frequent Radio Bursts and Revelations (Anna D. Shapiro directing) both developed at Steppenwolf, where his box office hit The Doppelgänger (an international farce) premiered, directed by Tina Landau, starring Rainn Wilson. Recent work: The Birds of North America, developed through the Daniel J. Sullivan Artist Fellowship at the University of Illinois; Eager to Lose, a Burlesque Farce in Rhyming Verse (Ars Nova); his critically acclaimed solo play Handbook for an American Revolutionary (Gym at Judson); and an upcoming rock musical. Other work developed/produced by Ars Nova, New Group, Vineyard, MCC, Williamstown, NYTW, New Harmony Project, and Orchard Project, among others. Original TV/FILM: his psychological thriller opera series “Doll” (Ivo van Hove, dir./ John Wells Productions/Warner Bros); “Kara” (ft Chris Rock/Cecily Strong); “The Waking” (Sony); and Serpo (Sony/TriStar), among others. Other TV: “Unaccustomed Earth” (Netflix); “Tell Me Lies” (Hulu); the Adam McKay/Amy Adams series “Kings of America” (Netflix); “Masters of Sex” (Showtime); “Gypsy” (Netflix); “We Are the Champions” (Netflix/ 2 x Sports Emmy nominations); World Wrestling Entertainment; Nickelodeon. He serves on the WGA PAC Board, is an official endorser of the 21st Century Federal Writers' Project Act, and has lobbied at the local, state, and federal levels for creative workers, culminating in a congressional hearing. A Humanitas New Voices recipient, he has received support from the NEA, Edgerton Foundation, Laurents/Hatcher Foundation, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Puffin Foundation; former Ars Nova Play Group. Proud graduate of the public school system.
Don Nguyen
Don Nguyen is a Vietnamese playwright who grew up in Nebraska. His full-length plays include The World Is Not Silent (Alley Theatre, Northern Stage); The Supreme Leader (Dallas Theatre Center, Mile Square Theatre); Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth (The Playwrights Realm); Sound (Azeotrope/ACT Seattle); Red Flamboyant (Firebone Theatre Company); The Commencement of William Tan (Yale Cabaret); and The Man from Saigon. His work has been developed or produced at The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, Labyrinth Theatre, The Flea, Ojai Playwrights Conference, NYSAF, Naked Angels, Naked Radio, The Civilians, Ma-Yi Theatre, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Joe's Pub, The 52nd Street Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and Tofte Lake. Don is the recipient of the Laurents/Hatcher Award, Bogliasco Fellowship, Aurora Theatre GAP Prize and NYSAF Founder's Award. Don is also a multi-finalist for The O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Jonathan Larson Grant, The Princess Grace Award, and The Woodward International Playwriting Prize. Don is a former member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group, and The Civilians R&D Group. When he's not writing, he's gazing up at the stars. Websites: thenuge.com | theinterstellarfeller.com.
Noelle Viñas
Noelle Viñas is a writer and educator from Springfield, Virginia and Montevideo, Uruguay. Her play Derecho had a world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse after being developed at LJP's DNA Festival, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and NYC Latinx Playwrights Circle. Other productions include Feel the Spirit (Shotgun Players, Colt Coeur) and Zoom Intervention at Weston Playhouse (NY Times Critic's Pick). They have received commissions from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for cóndor, and IAMA Theatre Company for tether, which was part of NYSAF's 2025 Summer Season and Two River Theater's 2026 ¡Festejo! festival. She has received institutional support as a member of the Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, New York Stage and Film, Tofte Lake Center, Playwrights Foundation, the 2020-2021 Civilians R&D Group, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. Currently, they're a 2026 NYSCA grantee for their musical VEDETTE with Julián Mesri and are developing their new play Matrescence under a commission with Colt Coeur. She is an inaugural 2026-2027 Playwrights International Travel Grant program recipient, with support from the MAP Fund and the Venturous Theater Fund. As an educator, they've run high school theater programs in Northern Virginia, San Francisco, and Westchester County. In higher ed, she taught at Brooklyn College, Marist College, and Columbia University's School of the Arts' MFA Program. They fell in love with TV writing after staffing on 'Mrs. Davis' (Peacock). B.A. Emerson College; MFA Brooklyn College. Based in Brooklyn, Viñas is learning to take herself less seriously all the time.
|
Bailey Swilley's Gimme A Sign! Soho Playhouse (9/17-9/17) |
|
LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA Repertorio (11/15-12/31) |
|
LA GRINGA Repertorio (2/08-12/31) |
|
Bailey Swilley's Gimme A Sign! Soho Playhouse (9/20-9/20) |
|
EN EL TIEMPO DE LAS MARIPOSAS Repertorio (1/07-12/31) |
|
A Baby For Me? No Thank You, Please! Soho Playhouse (9/18-9/19) |