MCC Theater has named Jocelyn Bioh the inaugural Burnt Umber playwright-in-residence, placing her at the heart of the theatre's institutional core. The School Girls and Nollywood Dreams playwright will be in residence at the Off-Broadway theatre for the next three years, through the 2022 season.

The residency provides developmental and dramaturgical support on new projects, work space and access to rehearsal studio space in MCC Theater’s new multi-complex home, The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, as well as resources for readings and workshops. As the Burnt Umber playwright-in-residence, Bioh will also participate in an annual session with MCC Theater’s Youth Company Playwriting Lab.

“I am very excited about being named the Burnt Umber Playwright-in-Residence at MCC," says Bioh. "As a writer who strived to find a theatrical home that would be engaged and supportive of my work, I’m thrilled to find that partnership with MCC Theater, Judi Krupp and Bill Gerber. To have the support in both development and production is necessary for any writer and I can’t wait to continue my incredible journey created with MCC.”

MCC launches the new residency program with the support of Burnt Umber Productions, headed by Judi Krupp and Bill Gerber.

Bioh is the playwright of School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, which had two celebrated runs at MCC and is now being produced around the country. Her play Nollywood Dreams will be seen at MCC in 2020, and the musical GODDESS, of which she is the book writer, will be seen at the 2019 Powerhouse season from New York Stage and Film and Vassar. As a TV writer, Bioh has worked on Russian Doll and She's Gotta Have It.