Not very far from our home state and surely a group worth exploring, the Abingdon Theatre Company (Chad Austin, Producing Artistic Director) is thrilled to announce the four playwrights that they will highlight during the month of February, as a part of their Virtual Festival of Short Plays. Each selected playwright will receive a stipend to further their development on the selected play, which is made possible by V (formerly Eve Ensler), N. Rose, and Katherine Kline.
After reading the wonderful submissions of BIPOC playwrights across the country, the selections are Multiple Loads by Nicholas Pilapil, Good Grief by Marcus Harmon, La Mer Ayibatari Owei, and SCABS by Adrienne Dawes.
It is Abingdon Theatre Company’s mission to produce and develop brave, new American work by emerging and established artists. Abingdon’s Virtual Festival of Short Plays is set to provide a platform for underrepresented voices across the country to submit their new works for outreach in the New York theatre community.
Artistic Associate Leon Jones shared, “We are ecstatic to support these four talented playwrights throughout the month of February. It is of utmost importance to continue the support of emerging BIPOC playwrights to promote the development of these extraordinary plays.” Associate Director of Marketing Kate Bell added, “We are thrilled to add these emerging playwrights to ATC’s slate to further support the development of plays that depict the shared human experience.”
Adrienne Dawes (she/her/hers) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter originally from Austin, TX. Her plays include AM I WHITE (B. Iden Payne Award, David Mark Cohen New Play Award), TEEN DAD, HAIRY & SHERRI; and THIS BITCH. Adrienne received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and studied sketch & improv at the Second City Training Center in Chicago. Her work has been presented by or developed with Theatre Bedlam, New Harmony Project, The Fire This Time Festival, Theatre Lab at FAU, Queen City New Play Initiative, Stages Repertory Theatre, Teatro Milagro, National Black Theatre, and English Theatre Berlin, among others. Adrienne recently staffed on a limited series with Hulu/ABC Signature (EP: Ellen Pompeo).
Marcus Harmon is a playwright, actor, and singer from Columbus, Ohio, now based in Brooklyn, New York. He has had multiple award-winning plays staged in New York. Chain Theater (20th Anniversary, One-Act), NY Theater Festival (Edin. Full-Length), the Off-Broadway Downtown Urban Arts Festival (2022- 20th Anniversary / 2023 The Dandiest Duo 3rd place finalist), 2023 Queens Play Festival, 2023 Think Fast Theater Festival Finalist, 2023 Two Dogs Theater, Best Play Winner (The Dandiest Duo). He was selected as a recipient of the 2021 NYFA (New York Foundation for the Arts) grant for playwriting. His One-Act play, The Dandiest Duo, has been accepted into the 2024 Chain Theatre Festival. @marcus_harmon.
Nicholas Pilapil is a Filipino American playwright. His plays include The Bottoming Process (world premiere with IAMA Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Ignition Festival of New Plays) and if all that You take from this is courage, then I’ve no regrets (winner of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival). His work has also been developed with Geffen Playhouse, Playwrights Foundation, American Stage, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, The Workshop Theater, and The Fountain Theatre, among others. Nicholas is a member of the Asian American theatre collective Artists at Play and is an alum of The Writers’ Room at the Geffen Playhouse, IAMA Theatre Company’s Emerging Playwrights Lab, The Vagrancy Playwrights Group, and artEquity.
Ayibatari Owei is an Illinois-born, Maryland-raised early-career playwright. She received her BA in Theatre at Smith College, where she won The Denis Johnston Playwriting Award, The Gertrude Posner Spencer Prize, and The Mary Augusta Jordan Prize. On a regular day, Ayibatari can be found cracking jokes and singing along to ABBA.
Established over 30 years ago, Abingdon Theatre Company (ATC) develops and produces critically acclaimed brave, new American work by emerging and established artists. Mainstage Productions include the Off-Broadway premiere of Robin & Me: My Little Spark of Madness written and performed by Dave Droxler, the New York premiere of Queens Girl in the World, which was nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance for the Vivian Robinson Audelco Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, and the NYT Critics’ Pick Get on Your Knees written and performed by Jaqueline Novak, nominated for a Drama Desk Award. The DMW Greer One Night Only Series has showcased work such as Alex Edelman’s Just for Us which went on to receive Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and has just completed its run on Broadway; Back by Matt Webster starring Emmy Award nominee Madeline Brewer and Tony Award nominee James Cusati-Moyer; The Prompter starring Oscar-winning actress Estelle Parsons; Date of a Lifetime, a new musical with book and lyrics by Carl Kissin and music by Robert Baumgartner Jr. ATC’s Around the Table Series has produced staged readings of new plays such as The Inferno by Chris Sherman and Arancini by Joey Merlo. In 2020, ATC established Abingdon Virtual led by Executive Producer Chad Austin, and has since produced three award-winning films, including As Apple Pie written and directed by Artist-in-Residence Pierre Marais, which was an official selection of the Cannes World Film Festival for Best Young Filmmaker and won multiple awards at festivals including Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Drama USA; Abingdon Virtual’s premiere film, It Cries Too Loudly, was an official selection of the Prague International Short Film Awards and won Best Cinematography and Best Short Film at the Eastern European Film Festival.
