Ensemble Studio Theater's Youngblood, the theatre's Obie Award-winning collective of emerging professional playwrights under the age of 30, welcomes 11 new writers as it enters the 2018–2019 season.
Now in its 25th year, Youngblood nurtures young writers through artistic and professional guidance, peer support, and a fertile production environment.
This year’s new members are Karina Billini, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Gillian Beth Durkee, Michael Feldman, Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, Yilong Liu, Cristina Luzárraga, Megan Chan Meinero, Mona Pirnot, Lizzie Stern, and Sanaz Toossi.
The new playwrights join returning Youngblood members Brittany Allen, Will Arbery, Harron Atkins, Kim Davies, Julia Doolittle, Jahna Ferron-Smith, Cory Finley, Gracie Gardner, Dan Giles, Lily Houghton, Daniel K. Isaac, Amanda Keating, Sylvia Khoury, Anchuli Felicia King, Andrew Massey, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Julia Specht, Edessa Tailo, and Sofya Levitsky-Weitz.
Youngblood alums include Pulitzer Prize winners Annie Baker and Martyna Majok; Clare Barron (Dance Nation, You Got Older); Jen Silverman (Collective Rage); this year's Yale Drama Series Prize winner Leah Nanako Winkler (Kentucky, God Said This); Olivia Dufault (Year of the Rooster, The Tomb of KIng Tot); Robert Askins (Hand To God); and Qui Nguyen (Vietgone).
You can check out the work of current Youngblood members at EST's monthly brunch series featuring new short plays served with food, mimosas, and Bloody Marys. The first brunch of the 2018–2019 season will be on November 18. For more information visit EnsembleStudioTheatre.org.
