DUAF Selects Playwrights For 20th Anniversary Season

The Downtown Urban Arts Festival (DUAF) has selected the playwrights who will present their theatrical works at its 20th Anniversary season to be held in June 2022 in New York City. Selected from over 150 playwrights worldwide, this talented crop of 16 new and emerging writers hailed from coast to coast in the U. S. will stage urban works that address a mosaic of urban contemporary topics ranging from mental illness, homelessness, AIDS, 9/11, policing, LGBTQIA and black male identity. The participating playwrights and their plays are:

Alano P. Baez (NY) - Soul Survivor

Cris Eli Blak (KY) - The Hard Knock Lyfe

Christin Eve Cato (NY) - The Good Cop

Jennifer Cendana Armas (NY) - The Love Not Together

Lynda Crawford (NY) - The Nonessentials

Sheila Duane (NJ) - The Palmist

Elle (CA) - Run

Isa Guzman (NY) - Stoop

Marcus Harmon (NY) - 20th Anniversary

Alethea Harnish (NY) - Phantasmagoria

Rollin Jewett (NC) - Socky Tells All

Joy (CT) - The Pride

Nina Ki (NY) - Primary Colors

Amira Mustapha (NY) - Adulting

Marcus Scott (NY) - Forever and a Day

Bryan-Keyth Wilson (TX) - For Colored Boyz

The alternates are Renee' Flemings (NY), Michael Hagins (NY), Zoe Howard (NY) and Kwik Jones (OR)

In 2001, the theater program at DUAF was founded with the purpose to build a repertoire of new American theatre that echoes the true spirit of urban life and speaks to a whole new generation whose lives defy categorizing along conventional lines. That purpose has been realized many times over, as more than 150 writers have created and refined their work for the stage and thousands of inspired audience members have applauded their performances. It has been recognized as "one of the world's best festivals for new works" and described as "not only prestigious, but a slice of heaven for playwrights who want the chance to freely express themselves." (Lisa Mulcahy, Theater Festivals, Allworth Press, 2005). For more information about DUAF visit www.duafnyc.com.