WOMEN+ ON THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY to Unite 36 Playwrights With Flynn Center
Lynn Nottage, Sarah Ruhl and Heidi Schreck are among the writers contributing 10-minute plays.
Women+ on the Edge of Democracy will bring together 36 acclaimed women+ playwrights from across the globe to each create 10-minute plays that respond to shared questions about the state of democracy in America. This initiative, from the Flynn Center for Performing Arts in partnership with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, has commissioned these short plays which will be published as a free-to-perform anthology and brought to life through performances and readings in communities across the world between 23 October to 3 November 2026.
Theatres, organisations, schools and individuals wishing to participate can sign up at www.democracy.flynnvt.org. Women+ on the Edge of Democracy sets out to form a collective portrait of a nation in doubt and transformation, seen through the eyes of women+ playwrights from around the world who have long chronicled America's contradictions and dreams. The commission welcomes work from across the political spectrum.
The 36 commissioned playwrights are currently Jane Anderson, Leslie Ayvazian, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Moira Buffini, Lucy Caldwell, Bridget Carpenter, Paula Cizmar, Migdalia Cruz, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Elizabeth Diggs, Hannah Doran, Stella Feehily, Lauren M. Gunderson, Zinnie Harris, Justice Hehir, Beth Henley, Elizabeth Kuti, Haruna Lee, Kimber Lee, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Lisa Loomer, Sarah Mantell, Deb Margolin, Ellen McLaughlin, Susan Miller, Rona Munro, Lynn Nottage, Ife Olujobi, Dael Orlandersmith, a.k. payne, Heather Raffo, Sarah Ruhl, Heidi Schreck, Jenny Schwartz, Judith Thompson, and Else Went. More names to be announced. Dramaturgs for the project include Martine Kei Green-Rogers, Sarah Mantell, Amrita Ramanan, Zeina Salame, and Jenny Worton.
Through comedy and tragedy, rage and tenderness, hope and fear, these writers will map a picture of America today – revealing how democracy feels to those who have spent their lives giving voice to the unseen and unheard.
Building on the Flynn's deep commitment to presenting art in public spaces and recognising theatre as a space for conversation, the marathon world premiere of all the plays commissioned through Women+ on the Edge of Democracy will take place in a live performance at the Flynn in Burlington, Vermont in October 2026. Date, timing, and ticket information will be announced soon.
Jay Wahl, Executive Director of the Flynn, said, “We are living through a defining moment for American democracy which impact globally, and artists are essential in times like these, helping us make sense of history as we're living through it. Women+ on the Edge of Democracy gathers some of the most insightful playwrights of our time to witness, question, and illuminate this pivotal chapter in American civic life. Democracy depends on shared public space: the places where we gather and the conversations we're willing to have with one another. In the spirit of Vermont's state motto, 'Freedom and Unity,' the Flynn is proud to make these plays available freely to communities across the world, creating opportunities for people to come together, reflect, and engage.”
Leslie Swackhamer, Executive Director of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, added, “Susan Smith Blackburn believed that our society needed more influence from talented women - that our stages, our stories, and our civic life were poorer without their voices at the center. Theatre has always been one of the few places where democracy can actually happen: strangers gather in a room, sit with an idea together, and leave changed by it. The writers joining us for this project are being asked the most vital question of our time - what is the state of democracy in America? - and I have no doubt their answers will inspire all of us to sit with that question ourselves.”
