Announcing
Our 2022 Visionary PlaywrightS!
LYNN ROSEN is a playwright and TV writer. She recently sold two pilots to a major network/studio and has more in the pipeline. Her plays have been seen at many theatres, including: New Georges, San Francisco Playhouse, Women's Project, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Theatreworks Silicon Valley, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Centerstage Baltimore, Studio Theatre, Working Theater, The New Group. Recent: Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan commission for “The Overview Effect”, a play about the race to space and the emotional and spiritual costs of risk-taking (her third EST/Sloan commission); “The Claudias” Red Bull Theatre’s inaugural new play commission; and “Girls! Gurlz! Gyrls!”, a new musical about feminists Betty Friedan, Helen Gurley Brown, and Florynce Kennedy, commissioned by Tony-winning Theatreworks Silicon Valley. Lynn is co-writing the book with Pia Wilson, music by Paula Cole. Lynn is co-founder of the playwright-driven, pop-up theatre company The Pool, now in its third incarnation. Lynn co-wrote/co-created the award-winning web series “Darwin”, directed by Carrie Preston and Greg Ivan Smith, as well as the upcoming comic web series “Hot Air,” starring Chad Kessler. She is currently a resident playwright at New Dramatists.
Checking in with lynn Rosen
What do you find most empowering about writing comedic female centered stories?
The comedic part is just who I am. (So is being female.) Humor is naturally how I navigate and untangle a confounding and astounding world. My plays tend to follow that same path. They’re funny, yet at the same time they grapple with serious, sometimes terribly sad, always very human issues. You know, classic comedy. Funny and serious are never mutually exclusive. Writing allows me to express every gradation of myself on the page – the good, the bad, the fearful, the desperately hopeful. Where else do I get to do that with impunity?
We are so thrilled to be sending you to the Nantucket Project this year, we're wondering what about this experience you are looking for the most? What questions are you chewing on as an artist right now?
I’m thrilled to be going! I’m looking forward to just listening and absorbing as many nuanced ways of looking at our world as possible and seeing where that takes me as a writer. That feels like a fabulous “mental” vacation. It also ties in with my new work philosophy; I’m trying not to pre-game as much in my new work, but rather let things go where they go and trust all the unconscious work that goes on before I start tapping at my keyboard.
As for what I’m chewing on, where to begin? So many things in the political spectrum are taking up mental space. Class and upward mobility are a big part of my work – my characters are typically working-class people striving to get ahead which is getting harder to do in this country. I’m interested in women’s issues, as always, especially with
the overturning of Roe, and the ways in which women struggle to define their own identities and stories. I’m exploring this in two commissioned pieces right now, a play and a musical. I’m curious about how people keep their souls and spirits intact when met with the challenges life throws at them. Light stuff like that.
Was there a specific moment that inspired you to become a playwright?
I’ve always loved theatre. I went to theatre camp for years. (I was a good actor, a so-so singer, but the choreographer said I danced like I had “poop in my pants.” She was only half-joking.) But seeing “Noises Off” by Michael Frayne when it came to Chicago when I was young was seismic. It felt like magic, how surprising it was, how smart, how silly and funny in the most inspired way, how precise the creatives had to be – like comedy scientists – to pull it off. To me, that play was an act of generosity. As soon as I left the theater, I knew I wanted to make people feel how I felt that day – transported, surprised, delighted. Delight is underrated. Delight is a profound thing to feel and a privilege to supply. We all need more profound delight in our lives.
What's your favorite sandwich and why?
Okay, I’ve been mulling this one over. I’m not a big sandwich person. It feels like a waste of bread. But I love the Number 5 at a deli near me on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It’s too much Italian meat (hold the ham, extra vinegar), but it’s my favorite because it’s a tradition for me and my daughter to sit in Riverside Park on the Hudson River, split Number 5, and chat about anything that comes to mind. Context is everything.
The comedic part is just who I am. (So is being female.) Humor is naturally how I navigate and untangle a confounding and astounding world. My plays tend to follow that same path. They’re funny, yet at the same time they grapple with serious, sometimes terribly sad, always very human issues. You know, classic comedy. Funny and serious are never mutually exclusive. Writing allows me to express every gradation of myself on the page – the good, the bad, the fearful, the desperately hopeful. Where else do I get to do that with impunity?
We are so thrilled to be sending you to the Nantucket Project this year, we're wondering what about this experience you are looking for the most? What questions are you chewing on as an artist right now?
I’m thrilled to be going! I’m looking forward to just listening and absorbing as many nuanced ways of looking at our world as possible and seeing where that takes me as a writer. That feels like a fabulous “mental” vacation. It also ties in with my new work philosophy; I’m trying not to pre-game as much in my new work, but rather let things go where they go and trust all the unconscious work that goes on before I start tapping at my keyboard.
As for what I’m chewing on, where to begin? So many things in the political spectrum are taking up mental space. Class and upward mobility are a big part of my work – my characters are typically working-class people striving to get ahead which is getting harder to do in this country. I’m interested in women’s issues, as always, especially with
the overturning of Roe, and the ways in which women struggle to define their own identities and stories. I’m exploring this in two commissioned pieces right now, a play and a musical. I’m curious about how people keep their souls and spirits intact when met with the challenges life throws at them. Light stuff like that.
Was there a specific moment that inspired you to become a playwright?
I’ve always loved theatre. I went to theatre camp for years. (I was a good actor, a so-so singer, but the choreographer said I danced like I had “poop in my pants.” She was only half-joking.) But seeing “Noises Off” by Michael Frayne when it came to Chicago when I was young was seismic. It felt like magic, how surprising it was, how smart, how silly and funny in the most inspired way, how precise the creatives had to be – like comedy scientists – to pull it off. To me, that play was an act of generosity. As soon as I left the theater, I knew I wanted to make people feel how I felt that day – transported, surprised, delighted. Delight is underrated. Delight is a profound thing to feel and a privilege to supply. We all need more profound delight in our lives.
What's your favorite sandwich and why?
Okay, I’ve been mulling this one over. I’m not a big sandwich person. It feels like a waste of bread. But I love the Number 5 at a deli near me on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It’s too much Italian meat (hold the ham, extra vinegar), but it’s my favorite because it’s a tradition for me and my daughter to sit in Riverside Park on the Hudson River, split Number 5, and chat about anything that comes to mind. Context is everything.
JULIA IZUMI is a writer and performer who makes plays, musicals, and other theatrical nonsense. Her work has been developed and presented at Manhattan Theatre Club, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Bushwick Starr, WP Theater, The COOP, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Seattle Rep, ArtsWest, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Williamstown Theatre Festival, NNPN/Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights' Workshop, Barn Arts Collective, BMI’s Librettists Workshop, CAATA’s National Asian-American Theatre ConFest, Rorschach Theatre, and Pork Filled Productions. Honors for her work include O’Neill Finalist, Kilroys List Honorable Mention, and Theater Masters’ Take Ten. She received the inaugural OPC Dr. Kerry English Award, KCACTF’s Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award, NY Society Library's Emerging Women's Artist Grant and a Puffin Artists' Grant. She is a New Dramatists Resident and is currently under commission from True Love Productions, MTC/Sloan, Playwrights Horizons, and Seattle Rep. MFA: Brown University. www.juliaizumi.com
CHecking in with JULIA IZUMI
Is there a specific emotion that you find fuels your writing?
I would say the panic about meeting a deadline more often than not fuels my writing...
Your upcoming play “Regretfully, So the Birds Are" is opening March 2023 at Playwrights Horizons. What inspired this work? How is it a “Swiss army knife of a play” as described by Adam Greenfield? Please tell us about the play and this experience.
I love that that's how he described it because it is a play that has a lot of modes and you are never sure which one is gonna pop out next. Also, it's about violence! Or rather, about the ways in which the American identity game and whiteness can really destroy people. But it's mostly about three adoptees who are really, really lost.
Coming out of this theater pandemic pause, do you have any new goals or hopes for your writing or the industry in general?
It's been so hard to create and write at all during this pandemic! To be honest my main hope and goal for myself is to get to a healthy enough place, both mentally and emotionally, that I can write. I wish that for all my comrades, co-conspirators, and colleagues who I know are all struggling through it too.
What is your favorite sandwich?
Oh I love sandwiches! A banh mi or an egg salad on Japanese milk bread would be top for me.
I would say the panic about meeting a deadline more often than not fuels my writing...
Your upcoming play “Regretfully, So the Birds Are" is opening March 2023 at Playwrights Horizons. What inspired this work? How is it a “Swiss army knife of a play” as described by Adam Greenfield? Please tell us about the play and this experience.
I love that that's how he described it because it is a play that has a lot of modes and you are never sure which one is gonna pop out next. Also, it's about violence! Or rather, about the ways in which the American identity game and whiteness can really destroy people. But it's mostly about three adoptees who are really, really lost.
Coming out of this theater pandemic pause, do you have any new goals or hopes for your writing or the industry in general?
It's been so hard to create and write at all during this pandemic! To be honest my main hope and goal for myself is to get to a healthy enough place, both mentally and emotionally, that I can write. I wish that for all my comrades, co-conspirators, and colleagues who I know are all struggling through it too.
What is your favorite sandwich?
Oh I love sandwiches! A banh mi or an egg salad on Japanese milk bread would be top for me.
CAYENNE DOUGLASS has had work developed and/or produced at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Theatre Masters, Fresh Ink Theatre, New Perspectives Theatre Company, Dixon Place, The Tank, Clutch Productions, City Theatre Miami, FEAST: A Performance Series, and Manhattan Repertory Theatre. She has participated in The First Stage Residency through The Drama League, The Barn Arts Residency, and The Emerging Artists Residency at Tofte Lake. Cayenne has been a finalist for The Bay Area Festival and The Playwrights’ Center Core Apprenticeship two years in a row. She has been published by Smith & Kraus and Concord Theatricals/Sam French. Cayenne is currently in The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and Company One Theatre’s Volt Lab 2022. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. For more information visit: www.cayennedouglass.com or follow Cayenne on IG: bruteful_theatre.
CHecking in with CAYENNE DOUGLASS
Is there a specific emotion that you find fuels your writing?
Oh, this is such an interesting question! I would say yes and no. I don’t think there’s one singular emotion. Most stories take a journey that requires the playwright to tap into a variety of emotions. My head space when writing an argument scene is going to be very different than writing a love scene or a scene filled with grief and longing. That’s what’s so wonderful about being a playwright - you can vacillate between the full range of emotions. I think if I were writing from one specific emotion it might lead to a play that feels flat, or very one-note and I think most audiences want to take a journey, they want to inhabit different corners of their heart. I also think if I was only writing from one emotional state that would be more about me, rather than being in service of the play -- and then we get into sticky territory when artists use their art form as therapy. It feels more like dumping on the audience rather than leading them to their own sense of discovery. I take that aspect of the job seriously. I think it’s important to serve the needs of the play rather than the other way around. Now, all that said, I often write from a place of discomfort: what is making me feel uneasy? what don’t I understand about the world? About people? What is the thing gnawing at my soul? Then, when I’m called to investigate questions like this, an insatiable curiosity takes hold as I look for ways to complicate an argument, hold space for contradictions, subvert expectations, and find common humanity – the emotions change but the drive behind the pursuit is usually coming from that angle. I’m also interested in finding the humor, especially when it’s a dramatic work. I get tickled by finding moments of humor through characters who are contrary, playful, and aren’t afraid to tell it like it is with mischief and wit.
Your Take Ten play centered on two women characters and their complicated relationship/ history. Do you write about women often?
Yes! Very much so! My play Maiden Voyage is seven women on a submarine. My play BEASTS is a character driven play about a relationship between sisters, Brewsters is a musical about beer brewing women in 17th century England. I write from that lens because it’s one that I know – not that I think one should exclusively write “what they know” but that’s another discussion. The canon of plays that we have is still overwhelmingly skewed towards the cis male lens and part of my mission is to contribute to a more expansive world view. I understand why this question continues to be relevant--but it’s my hope that in the future writing stories with women characters as the central protagonist will no longer need commenting on. We only see it as such because white, straight, and male has been heralded as “the status quo”, the “norm”, “the control” if you will, and anything that deviates from that is the variable. It’s my hope that we continue to diversify the canon by telling stories that feature full representation so that no one is seen as the “Other”.
What is your favorite sandwich?
I LOVE a mozzarella tomato pesto situation! I’m not a huge meat person but I can definitely get down with some turkey or chicken of there’s a good sauce, some cheese, caramelized onions, avocado, and a tasty bread.
Oh, this is such an interesting question! I would say yes and no. I don’t think there’s one singular emotion. Most stories take a journey that requires the playwright to tap into a variety of emotions. My head space when writing an argument scene is going to be very different than writing a love scene or a scene filled with grief and longing. That’s what’s so wonderful about being a playwright - you can vacillate between the full range of emotions. I think if I were writing from one specific emotion it might lead to a play that feels flat, or very one-note and I think most audiences want to take a journey, they want to inhabit different corners of their heart. I also think if I was only writing from one emotional state that would be more about me, rather than being in service of the play -- and then we get into sticky territory when artists use their art form as therapy. It feels more like dumping on the audience rather than leading them to their own sense of discovery. I take that aspect of the job seriously. I think it’s important to serve the needs of the play rather than the other way around. Now, all that said, I often write from a place of discomfort: what is making me feel uneasy? what don’t I understand about the world? About people? What is the thing gnawing at my soul? Then, when I’m called to investigate questions like this, an insatiable curiosity takes hold as I look for ways to complicate an argument, hold space for contradictions, subvert expectations, and find common humanity – the emotions change but the drive behind the pursuit is usually coming from that angle. I’m also interested in finding the humor, especially when it’s a dramatic work. I get tickled by finding moments of humor through characters who are contrary, playful, and aren’t afraid to tell it like it is with mischief and wit.
Your Take Ten play centered on two women characters and their complicated relationship/ history. Do you write about women often?
Yes! Very much so! My play Maiden Voyage is seven women on a submarine. My play BEASTS is a character driven play about a relationship between sisters, Brewsters is a musical about beer brewing women in 17th century England. I write from that lens because it’s one that I know – not that I think one should exclusively write “what they know” but that’s another discussion. The canon of plays that we have is still overwhelmingly skewed towards the cis male lens and part of my mission is to contribute to a more expansive world view. I understand why this question continues to be relevant--but it’s my hope that in the future writing stories with women characters as the central protagonist will no longer need commenting on. We only see it as such because white, straight, and male has been heralded as “the status quo”, the “norm”, “the control” if you will, and anything that deviates from that is the variable. It’s my hope that we continue to diversify the canon by telling stories that feature full representation so that no one is seen as the “Other”.
What is your favorite sandwich?
I LOVE a mozzarella tomato pesto situation! I’m not a huge meat person but I can definitely get down with some turkey or chicken of there’s a good sauce, some cheese, caramelized onions, avocado, and a tasty bread.
Meet the 2021 Visionary Playwrights
LAUREN YEE was the second most produced playwright in America for the 2019/20 theatrical season (as per American Theatre Magazine). Her plays include Cambodian Rock Band (South Coast Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, City Theatre, Merrimack Rep) and The Great Leap (Denver Center, Seattle Repertory, Atlantic Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Arts Club, InterAct Theatre, Steppenwolf). Honors: Doris Duke Artists Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Whiting Award, Steinberg/ATCA Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters literature award, Horton Foote Prize, Kesselring Prize, Primus Prize, Hodder Fellowship, #1 and #2 plays on 2017 Kilroys List. New Dramatists, Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab, Playwrights Realm alum. TV: Pachinko (Apple), Soundtrack (Netflix). BA: Yale. MFA: UCSD. www.laurenyee.com
SP O'BRIEN: Hailing from the smallest state in the country, SP has also lived in Vermont, New York, Arizona, California, and France. He was a 2016 Core Apprentice at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, a 2016 Best of Fringe Winner in the FringeNYC, and a 2017 Honorable Mention for the Relentless Award. He was a 2019 recipient of Theater Masters’ Take Ten Play Lab where his short play SUCKERS was workshopped and subsequently produced. It was published by Samuel French in 2020. SP holds an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. He’s so excited to have another opportunity to work with Theater Masters.
MAY TREUHAFT-ALI is a playwright and new-play dramaturg. After graduating from Wesleyan University, she completed an M.Phil in Theatre and Performance Studies at Trinity College Dublin on a George J. Mitchell Scholarship. She is a Writing Fellow at The Playwrights Realm, an alumna of Clubbed Thumb’s Early-Career Writers’ Group, and a recipient of two commissions from Adventure Theatre MTC. She has worked as a dramaturg at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Ars Nova ANT Fest, and Haven Theatre Chicago. Her dramaturgical essays have been published in Playwrights Horizons’ Almanac and Table Work Press’ Two Plays. May is currently the Literary Fellow at Playwrights Horizons.
THADDEUS McCANTS is a Brooklyn-based Playwright, Television Writer, and Performer originally from Madison, Wisconsin. As a TV Writer, he is currently developing series for both BET & Audible. As a playwright, he is a Theater Masters Visionary Playwright, an O’Neill Semi-Finalist, and a Finalist for the Goldberg Play Prize. As a performer, he has appeared in National TV commercials, Originated Disney Musicals, and worked on-screen with HBO, MTV and more. He holds an MFA from NYU Tisch and a BFA from Ithaca College.
“The writer cannot be a mere storyteller; they cannot be a mere teacher; they cannot merely X-ray society's weaknesses, its ills, its perils. They must be actively involved shaping its present and its future” – Ken Saro Wiwa”
“The writer cannot be a mere storyteller; they cannot be a mere teacher; they cannot merely X-ray society's weaknesses, its ills, its perils. They must be actively involved shaping its present and its future” – Ken Saro Wiwa”
Professional Play Development Programs
In 2008, Theater Masters initiated the Visionary Playwrights Award, in partnership with the Aspen Institute and three of America's top regional theaters: Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, La Jolla Playhouse in California, and Playwrights Horizons in NYC. One playwright from each theater, was chosen jointly by Theater Masters and the participating theater, received a pass to attend the Aspen Ideas Festival and was commissioned to write a new full-length play. The playwrights were to draw inspiration from the Festival and reflect the Institute's philosophy of timeless values and powerful issues.
As this program has evolved, we now instead draw from Theater Masters' own pool of alumni, choosing two of our own playwrights each year to receive this prestigious Award, participate in The Aspen Ideas Festival, and receive a full-length play commission.
Since 2014, we have been able to add the additional commitment to this Award that Theater Masters will either do a developmental workshop and reading of the playwrights Visionary Play or will connect them with a theater able to so. This added commitment is meaningful to the playwrights as it gives them additional support to develop the play to the point of being ready for a production.
This program can boast an impressive list of alumni. Among the many Visionary Plays that have been written through this program, our first commissioned play, Milk Like Sugar, by Kirsten Greenidge, ran at La Jolla Playhouse, then at Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway where it won the Obie for Best Play. Another commissioned play, Marjorie Prime, by Jordan Harrison ran at Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway in November 2015 and was a Finalist for the Pulitzer.
As this program has evolved, we now instead draw from Theater Masters' own pool of alumni, choosing two of our own playwrights each year to receive this prestigious Award, participate in The Aspen Ideas Festival, and receive a full-length play commission.
Since 2014, we have been able to add the additional commitment to this Award that Theater Masters will either do a developmental workshop and reading of the playwrights Visionary Play or will connect them with a theater able to so. This added commitment is meaningful to the playwrights as it gives them additional support to develop the play to the point of being ready for a production.
This program can boast an impressive list of alumni. Among the many Visionary Plays that have been written through this program, our first commissioned play, Milk Like Sugar, by Kirsten Greenidge, ran at La Jolla Playhouse, then at Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway where it won the Obie for Best Play. Another commissioned play, Marjorie Prime, by Jordan Harrison ran at Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway in November 2015 and was a Finalist for the Pulitzer.
New Play Development
Our New Play Development series invites a director, playwright, and cast to Aspen, New York, or Palm Beach, where workshops of a new play-in-progress culminate in a reading for the community and/or industry. In 2015 Theater Masters additionally launched a partnership with the O'Neill Playwrights Center for them to offer a residency to a Theater Masters playwright in the Fall. Plays and musicals developed have received a 1st Place in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the honor of being the critics choice as one of the 10 best plays of the year, Off-Broadway productions and a production at the Berkshire Theater Festival.
Talkabouts
As part of Theater Masters' education for audiences, our Talkabout programs feature world-renowned artists in a series of lectures and theatrical readings on a variety of topics. Past Talkabouts have included director Richard Digby Day and actress Dana Ivey discussing what theatre's great characters reveal about political ambition; Denver Center Theater's Kent Thompson on what it takes to be an artistic director; and Cheers' star Shelley Long on mastering stage, film, and television.
Theater Masters Presents
Theater Masters presents distinguished professional productions for Aspen/Roaring Fork audiences. These popular events have included Gareth Armstrong's Shylock, Frank Barrie's Playing Shakespeare, and the provocative plays Dearborn Heights and Open Admissions.
Our School Outreach program uses a Theater Masters production as a springboard to bring arts education to the high schools in the Roaring Fork Valley. A study guide is produced for students and teachers. The Theatre professionals visit classrooms to discuss the play Theater Masters is presenting, with a focus on how the themes relate to the students' studies and their own lives. This is followed by a trip to the theater where the students see the play for themselves and deepen their discussion.
Our School Outreach program uses a Theater Masters production as a springboard to bring arts education to the high schools in the Roaring Fork Valley. A study guide is produced for students and teachers. The Theatre professionals visit classrooms to discuss the play Theater Masters is presenting, with a focus on how the themes relate to the students' studies and their own lives. This is followed by a trip to the theater where the students see the play for themselves and deepen their discussion.
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