Apply Now for Writing Residency Program by Liberation Theatre Company

Liberation Theatre Company, a Harlem-based independent theatrical producer and playwright development company established in 2009, is inviting applications from early-career Black playwrights to participate in the seventh year of their Writing Residency Program for 2024-2025.

LTC will select four playwrights and provide them with dramaturgical and professional support over a ten-month period, during which time they will each be required to complete the first draft of an original full-length play. Funding for the program has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.

"For six years now, we have seen a steady interest in our writing residency primarily because there remains a need," said Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, Producing Artistic Director of Liberation Theatre Company. "Very often, early career Black playwrights lack a writing support network, feedback on their work or access to career development. Providing those kinds of opportunities has been the mission of our program and our theatre company from the very beginning."

The deadline to submit an application is Monday, April 1, 2024. Submissions may only be made using the form found at this link: https://liberationtheatrecompany.submittable.com/submit

Starting in May 2024, the chosen playwrights will attend monthly group meetings to share their works-in-progress. They will meet individually with LTC leadership who will provide additional support for their artistic needs and concerns; and have the resources of a director and professional actors for table readings as their plays take shape.

Liberation Theatre Company will provide access to theatre tickets when available and seek to make introductions with artistic leaders to assist playwrights in advancing their careers.

The Writing Residency Program will conclude in February 2025, with the possibility of public or virtual readings of the finished plays. Playwrights will receive an honorarium upon successful completion of the program.

Liberation Theatre Company was established in 2009 with the mission to create a home for emerging Black playwrights to develop their work and express themselves artistically in a supportive and focused environment. LTC offers dramaturgical services and professional readings. The Writing Residency Program was established in 2017-2018 and to date has worked with 24 playwrights, many of whom have subsequently had plays produced at festivals and by regional theatre companies.

In 2010, LTC initiated Harlem9, a successful collaboration of Black theatre producers in Harlem, which began producing the annual 48Hours in... Harlem 10-minute play festival in August 2011. 48Hours in... Harlem received an Obie Award in 2014, and several anthologies of plays written for the festivals have been published and made available to drama schools, libraries and the general public.

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