Rattlestick Theater Reveals 2025-2026 Resident Artists and Mentors

Rattlestick Theater has revealed its resident artists for the 2025-2026 season. Through its residency programs - including the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator, the Van Lier New Voices Fellowship, the Directing Fellowship, and the inaugural Director-in-Residence  – Rattlestick champions creative discovery by giving artists the opportunity to try out a first draft, first idea, or first collaboration.

“At Rattlestick we have reimagined how we shape the conditions for artistic process,” says Will Davis, Rattlestick Theater Artistic Director. “We provide space, bespoke resources, and community for generative theater artists to explore, experiment, and grow. For us, the artistic process is programming. Our projects are the result of long-form, well-resourced, deep development. This investment is central to our mission and, thus, our identity as an institution.”

Rattlestick believes that theater is inherently collaborative, a space where diverse visions converge to create a live event. Towards this aim, Rattlestick is launching a two-year Directing Residency designed for directors as generative artists and is pleased to welcome Margot Bordelon as its inaugural Director-in-Residence. Bordelon will work on her piece SCRUB, based on her relationship to her mother who began hoarding when Margot was a child.

Rattlestick’s 2025-2026 Directing Fellow is Alexis Kulani Woodard who will have an artistic home at Rattlestick for one year. In collaboration with the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, Woodward will receive a weekly salary, access to Rattlestick resources, a first hand experience with non-profit theater leadership, and an end-of-year event to showcase their work for the industry and general public.

Bordelon and Woodward join the previously announced Terrence McNally New Works Incubator Cycle 3 Fellows, which include playwrights Milo Cramer, Avery Deutsch, and Celeste Jennings. The New Works Incubator is designed to support ambitious early-career playwrights by giving them time and space to develop their work, professional mentorship with veteran playwrights, and access to the community of artists and work being developed at Rattlestick and Tom Kirdahy Productions. 

As part of the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator, Rattlestick has unveiled the mentors who will support the Cycle 3 Fellows. They include Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, who are paired with Milo Cramer; Emma Horwitz, who will support Avery Deutsch; and Mfoniso Udofia who will mentor Celeste Jennings.

The Center (208 W 13th St) will host work-in-progress presentations from the Cycle 3 Fellow in September including Cramer’s URGENT CARE directed by Portia Krieger, Jennings’ Potliqka directed by Goldie E. Patrick, and Deutsch’s The Age of Mary directed by Anne Kauffman.

Mellon Playwright-in-Residence Basil Kreimendahl will also continue his residency and develop his new play, Sadie Rivers Drag Ball on the Lawn. Applications for the 2025-2026 Van Lier Fellowship will open during the fall.