Roundabout Theatre Company has revealed the two playwrights that will participate in the 2025/2026 Roundabout Underground Residencies: Iraisa Ann Reilly and Liba Vaynberg.
The Underground program fosters new works by emerging theatre artists by developing and producing their new works in a creative, low-pressure environment. It also offers opportunities for directors and designers to hone their storytelling skills. Writers are often at the very beginning of their New York careers, and those that receive an Underground production also receive a Roundabout commission in an effort to offer continual support.
Both Reilly and Vaynberg will be provided the time and space to strip back to basics while working on one of their plays. Each writer will have scheduled time at a desk in a shared workspace, a multi-day workshop of their play, and access to Roundabout resources and staff.
Iraisa Ann Reilly is a writer, actor, and educator who is half-Cuban, half-Irish, and whole New Jersey. She will be performing her solo show, A Bodega Princess Remembers La Fiesta de Los Reyes Magos, 1998, Off-Broadway this fall. As a writer, her work has been developed and recognized by Teatro del Sol, Atlantic Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Two River Theatre, Arkansas New Play Festival, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Theatre Exile, The New Harmony Project, Texas A&M University, Michigan State, Sol Project, Simpatico Theatre Company, Latinx Playwrights Circle, Art House Productions, and the Yale Drama Series. She is currently under commission with Arden Theatre Company and is a member of Soho Rep’s Writer/ Director lab, 2024-2025. As an educator, Iraisa Ann is an adjunct professor in the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch and is a teaching artist with Roundabout Theatre Company, ESPA Primary Stages, and Dreamyard Inc.
Liba Vaynberg is a first-generation American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. The daughter of Ukrainian and Azeri Jewish refugees, she is bilingual in English and Russian. Her plays include The Matriarchs (O'Neill winner, Princess Grace finalist, Blackburn nominee, Theater J Abramson finalist, Blue Ink Award finalist, Civilians R&D), The Gett (starring Jennifer Westfeldt at Rattlestick, Blackburn Nominee, Colorado New Play Festival, Theater Ariel), Round Table (59e59, Irons In The Fire, TSQ's 10 Best of 2019), Scheiss Book (United Solo: Best One Woman Show, Backstage Magazine Audience Choice Award, Dixon Place, Kitchen Theater), The Russian & The Jew (the tank). Her work has been supported by the Bronx Cultural Visions Fund, ART/NY, Venturous Theater Fund, and NYSCA. Fellowships include COJECO BluePrint, Sewanee Writers' Conference, IAMA Theater Residency, and LABA. As an actor, her performance highlights include New Amsterdam (4 seasons), Annie Blumberg opposite Ed Asner and Tovah Feldshuh in the PBS broadcast of The Soap Myth, Now Jane in Bekah Brunstetter's Oregon Trail at WP, Golem of Havana at La Mama, and Lost In Yonkers opposite Marsha Mason.
Visit RoundaboutTheatre.org.
