Crowded Fire Theater Announces 2021-23 Resilience & Development Cohort

Crowded Fire Theater, known as a vital home for new play development and production on the West Coast, has announced the third cohort of the Resilience & Development Lab, supporting four playwrights in the development of new works. The playwrights selected for this cohort are Star Finch, A-lan Holt, Maria Jenson, and Lisa Marie Rollins. Over the next year and a half, CFT is committed to offering support to these four visionary writers, bolstering the development of new and original pieces.

"Crowded Fire has always considered new plays central to our artistic vision, and the R&D Lab is one of the most exciting programs in our ongoing commitment to the development of new works by local writers. Over the next eighteen months, our playwright-led process will offer these writers the time and space to explore their creative goals-not only for their Crowded Fire commissions, but as whole artists," shares Literary Associate Caro Asercion.

"Each of our Lab cohorts has emerged in a moment of political and cultural uncertainty, and this group is no exception. Our field continues to grapple with questions of racial equity, labor, and safety amid the ongoing pandemic. As these playwrights continue to navigate these questions, we hope that Crowded Fire's R&D Lab will serve as a communal space for them to gather, share and receive support, and deepen their craft together. We are so excited to strengthen our relationships with these writers, and for them to strengthen their relationships with each other."

CFT's 2019-2021 R&D Lab cohort began meeting in December 2019, just before the world as we knew it changed irrevocably. This astounding group of artists continued to meet virtually throughout the pandemic, forming a community in which they held and supported one another through the year's challenges, loss, and grief.

The first cohort of the Lab ran from autumn 2017 to spring 2019. With the third iteration of the R&D Lab, Crowded Fire will support a mix of familiar and new voices alike. We are thrilled to welcome back Star Finch and A-lan Holt, who participated in previous cohorts. They will be joined by Maria Jenson, a newcomer to the Crowded Fire community. To round out the cohort, Lisa Marie Rollins, who guided the last two Labs as a facilitator, will be joining this round as a playwright.

Previous playwrights supported by the R&D Lab include Denmo Ibrahim, Nick Mwaluko, Eugenie Chan, Julius Rea, and Linda Maria Girón.