Nia Calloway, Rachel Lin & More To Develop New Solo Plays For AFO's 2022 Solo Collective

All For One Theater has selected five playwrights who will create and develop five brand new solo plays as part of All For One's 2022 Solo Collective development series: Nia Calloway (HOMEBODY: A Ritual Party), Rachel Lin (Dear John), Matthew Paul Olmos (the un'admiring), Reynaldo Piniella (Black and Blue), and Jason Odell Williams (Destroying David).

The AFO Solo Collective (SoCo) nurtures the development of mid-career solo artists and their audiences through cross-disciplinary exchange, peer-driven workshops, and panel discussions. SoCo was conceived in response to the lack of resources available to solo artists to develop their work outside of a commercial and result-oriented workspace. It was created to provide a forum where pieces at all different stages of development could be nurtured and then shared publicly with a supportive audience of peers and collaborators.

Projects are incubated during the calendar year with a two-week focus on each project that results in a free public performance. No piece is promised a production with AFO in the future, and no team of artists will be asked to give AFO the right of first refusal.

Nia Calloway is a multi-disciplinary artist and astrologer who traverses the worlds of theatre, poetry, music, dance, and the healing arts. Through the combination of written word, sound experimentation, and explorative movement, she aims to create spaces of healing and introspection for her audience. Driven by the desire to relate the natural world, supernatural phenomena, the cosmos, and time to our bodies, Nia's art serves to heal and reorient our collective stories around female bodies, QBIPOC bodies, and especially Black femme bodies. niacalloway.com

Rachel Lin is a Chinese-British actress with an American accent. She was raised between Brooklyn and Manhattan's Chinatowns. Currently, she plays Detective Victoria Cho on NBC's "Law & Order: Organized Crime." World premieres include Ajax by A.R. Gurney, Women by Chiara Atik, Bekah Brunstetter's Fat Kids on Fire, and Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love by Mallery Avidon. She has also had the pleasure of working regionally at Cleveland Play House, St. Louis Rep, and Montana Repertory Theater. Her podcast, Upstage Left, featuring interviews with theater artists she admires, is available wherever podcasts are found. She is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, and has received residencies from the Asian American Arts Alliance, The Hearth, and Town Stages to develop her writing. She holds a BFA from NYU's Tisch, and is a proud alum of Stuyvesant High School. therachellin.com

Matthew Paul Olmos is a three-time Sundance Institute Fellowship/Residency recipient, Humana Festival playwright, Ojai Playwrights Conference playwright, New Dramatists Resident, Arizona Theatre Company's National Latinx Awardee, Center Theatre Group playwright, Geffen Writers Room playwright, Oregon Shakespeare Festival BLACK SWAN playwright, Princess Grace Awardee, Repertorio Español Nuestra Voces awardee, and La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Awardee (selected by Sam Shepard). Mentored by Ruth Maleczech (Mabou Mines/SUITE); Taylor Mac (Cherry Lane Mentor Project). Former fellow/resident at Baryshnikov Arts Center, INTAR, Latinx Theatre Commons, New York Theatre Workshop, Primary Stages; Ensemble Studio Theater lifetime member; proud Kilroys nominator. His work has been presented nationally, internationally, is published, and taught in university. matthewpaulolmos.com

Reynaldo Piniella is an actor, writer and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. As an actor, he's been seen on Broadway in Trouble in Mind and Thoughts of a Colored Man, and Off-Broadway at Signature, TFANA, Rattlestick, the Public and NYTW. His play Black Doves won the Thomas Barbour Award for Playwriting. He's an alum of The Civilians R&D Group and has received fellowships from TCG, Weeksville Heritage Center and the All Stars Project. His work has been commissioned and developed by Baltimore Center Stage, The Public Theater's Shakespeare Initiative, HB Studio, Single Carrot Theater, Shakesqueer Theater Company and Pioneer Theater Guild. reynaldopiniella.com

Jason Odell Williams's work has been nominated for an Emmy Award, an Off-Broadway Alliance Award and L.A. Ovation Award. His plays Church & State and Handle with Care ran Off-Broadway, are published by DPS, won a Henry Award and Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Play respectively, and have collectively been produced over 100 times across the country. His work has been named a Semi-Finalist for PlayMaker Rep's Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition and twice been named a Semi-Finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Festival. He's currently writing a musical with his wife and collaborator, Charlotte Cohn. jasonodellwilliams.com

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