Franky D. Gonzalez Announced as 4 Seasons Residency 2021-22 Recipient Playwright

The 4 Seasons Residency, a partnership between Ignition Arts (PA), Tofte Lake Center (MN), Seven Devils New Play Foundry (ID), National Winter Playwrights Retreat (HBMG Foundation, CO), and in collaboration with National New Play Network, has announced the second year of programming in support of playwright Franky D. Gonzalez.

Building on the impact of its inaugural process with playwright Jessica Huang, these five nationally renowned organizations will again collaborate in support of a single artist over the course of 18 months. Comprised of four intensive, seasonal retreats, followed by an immersive networking experience with new play producers around the country, the 4 Seasons Residency takes a holistic, artist-centered, and long-term approach to new play development, employing an innovative model of deep collaboration between institutions toward the professional and creative growth of an individual artist.

The 4 Seasons Residency is committed to supporting writers who are examining the American Experience, to investing in diverse voices, and to giving time and space to writers who will add to the canon meaningful roles for women artists.

Starting in Summer 2021, Franky D. Gonzalez will experience each organization's unique approach to new play development and artistic support over four seasons, culminating in National New Play Network's National Showcase of New Plays in Winter 2022. The nominees for this year's program represent some of the most compelling voices in contemporary American theater. In recognition of the prestige of this group of finalists, each organization is offering all candidates the opportunity for continued submission and engagement. The 4SR Finalists are Sun Mee Chomet, Alexandra Espinoza, Ramón Esquivel, Candrice Jones, k. lyons, Megan Tabaque, Noelle Viñas, and Mike Wiley.

From Gonzalez: "There are few things more exciting than the opportunity to develop work in the nurturing environments crafted by these arts organizations - be they virtual or on-site. Thank you 4SR for vanquishing the loneliness and welcoming me into your stories."

ABOUT FRANKY D. GONZALEZ

Franky D. Gonzalez is a playwright and TV writer of Colombian descent based in Dallas, Texas. Franky was a recipient of the 2020 Charles Rowan Beye New Play Commission, co-recipient for the 2018 MetLife Nuestras Voces Latino Playwriting Award, he won the 2020 Crossroads Project Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative Award, the Short+Sweet Theatre Festival Manila Best Overall Production Prize, and was a staff writer for the fourth season of 13 Reasons Why. His work has been read or seen at The Lark, Sundance Institute, Goodman Theatre's Live@Five Series, HBMG Foundation's National Winter Playwrights Retreat, The New Harmony Project, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Repertorio Español, LAByrinth Theater Company, Dallas Theater Center, Austin Latinx New Play Festival, Stages Repertory Theatre's Sin Muros Latinx Theatre Festival, Ammunition Theatre Company, Antaeus Playwrights Lab, The Mid-America Theatre Conference, The Road Theatre Company, Kitchen Dog Theater, Prop Thtr, The Midwest Dramatists Conference, Imprint Theatreworks, and the One-Minute Play Festival. Franky holds a BA in Theatre from the University of North Texas, and his work has been featured throughout the Dallas Ft. Worth metroplex where he served proudly as the 2018 Dramatists Guild Regional Representative. @Phatthedd | New Play Exchange