NYTW BLOG

One of the most exciting aspects of being an Administrative Fellow here at the Workshop is being able to witness all of the unique and diverse programming that goes on throughout the year. After shadowing the Youth Artistic Instigators program, it was not difficult to be blown away by the entire experience. Students were not only expected to engage with challenging and timely materials, but they were also expected to collaborate with each other in a space that gave them complete freedom to create bold activist theatre. It was then, after my short time shadowing the program, that I reached out to the fantastic teaching artists who facilitate the program sessions to ask them how were they intentionally approaching teaching artistry in this hybrid era.

December 13, 2021 by Cedeem Gumbs, Marketing Fellow

“I took Casebook because I wanted to understand how the New York Theatre Workshop created it’s magic,” said Noel Kiernan, a participant in the 2016 program.

Casebook, a course that launched in the spring of 2012, allows audiences unprecedented access to the artists involved in the creation of a new work from rehearsal to production. Each year, New York Theatre Workshop designates one of its productions as a “case study” and hosts a class designed to provide theatre lovers of all experience levels with a true insider’s view of the life of a theatre artist, and the process of realizing a full professional production.

December 6, 2021 by Nia Smith, Education & Engagement Fellow

Poetic Theater Productions started their Veteran Voices programming in 2011 and since then, have created spaces, classes, showcases, and events for military veterans and their families to explore poetry and performance. In the winter of 2021, New York Theatre Workshop and Poetic Theater Productions teamed up to create their first playwriting program that would provide a cohort of military veterans the opportunity to write original plays and to collaborate with professional theater artists from our community. 

December 1, 2021 by Gaven Trinidad, NYTW Community Engagement Associate

Gamaliel Arroyo (they/he) got the chance to chat with actor, writer, activist, and performance artist Kristina Wong (she/her) about her staged show Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord before it began performances at NYTW. From uncovering government-failed outreach during the height of the pandemic to how to spend only $50 a month on groceries, they uncover a lot on how pre- and post-pandemic life has changed us. So, grab some headphones and listen in on a conversation that unfolds Kristina’s experience during the pandemic and how she was able to make that reality into a zoom show and luckily with some mask and vaccine mandates, a one-woman staged show.

November 16, 2021 by Gamaliel Arroyo

Diep Tran pens a deeply moving review on KRISTINA WONG, SWEATSHOP OVERLORD, and asks us to wrestle with the same question Kristina poses at the end of the show, “​​”What do you hope for as we move forward? Will you be generous in more than times of crisis?”

November 5, 2021 by Diep Tran for New York Theatre Guide

If you’re new to our community, you may be puzzled at first by some of the jargon you frequently encounter in conversations and our media. We’ve taken familiar words and adapted them in unique ways that have become a part of our culture! So, we thought we’d take a minute to loop you in!

October 14, 2021 by Gaven Trinidad, NYTW Community Engagement Associate

Usual Suspects Jocelyn Bioh and Martyna Majok chat with Gordon Cox about what it means to bring back their plays after the COVID shutdown.

September 29, 2021 by Gordon Cox for Variety

On March 11, 2020, Sanctuary City unknowingly played its final performance to audiences. The next day Broadway theatres (and NYTW) announced a shutdown in response to the rising transmission rates of the coronavirus in NYC. Sanctuary City was in previews for only a week before the closure, which was originally planned for 30 days, but extended nearly 18 months. Over that period, the set and lights remained intact at the Lucille Lortel Theater and the company stayed in contact, eager to return to the play.  On September 8, 2020, the cast and crew performed the play for the first time to a live audience since the closure.

September 20, 2021 by Aaron Malkin, NYTW Literary Director and Dramaturg

In March 2020, NYTW and Poetic Theater Productions quickly transitioned the Open Mic Night series into the virtual space. From the very first virtual Open Mic Night, artists from across the globe were chiming in every month to share poetry, music, dance, theatre, and movement in response to themes that spoke to the political and cultural moment. With the reopening of public spaces after more than a year, NYTW and Poetic Theater Productions wanted to find a way to finally provide space for some of these artists to come together, meet, and perform live in-person. Why not perform outside on the streets of New York?

September 1, 2021 by Gaven Trinidad, Jeremy Karafin, and Frank Murdocco

As we make a return to live performance and NYTW staff heads back to our offices, we are proud to announce the Fellows that will be joining us this September as part of the 2050 Administrative Fellowship for the 2021/22 Season.  

“This vital program has been a tremendous source of talent and energy in our community over the last several years. While ultimately the right call, it was a painful decision to forgo having a new cohort of Fellows last year, and their absence was deeply felt. We could not be more excited to be welcoming these eight talented young people to the Workshop in September!” said Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director Jeremy Blocker. 

August 24, 2021 by NYTW