Playwrights Jocelyn Bioh and Samuel D. Hunter and business leader and philanthropist Audrey Choi have joined the Dramatists Guild Foundation's Board of Directors.
The three join President Andrew
Lippa, Vice President Kevin Hager, Secretary Michael Gordon, Treasurer
Susan Laubach, President Emeritus Gretchen Cryer, C. Graham Berwind,III, Elizabeth Dewberry, Gary DiCenzo, Louise Evins, Eleni
Gianulis-Vermeer, Roe Green, David Henry Hwang, James Ijames, Branden
Jacobs-Jenkins, Donald J. Loftus, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Barbara Olcott,
Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Peter Ratray, and Doug Wright to help shape and guide the organization’s mission to support theatre writers at all stages of their careers.
“It is important in DGF’s mission and leadership to hear voices and experiences from creative minds, both on stage and off. We are honored to welcome Audrey’s expansive business and philanthropic expertise with Jocelyn and Samuel’s lived experience in making stories come to life. DGF is thrilled to have them as collaborators in our continued work to provide a steadfast community for dramatists,” DGF Executive Director Rachel Routh said in a statement.
Bioh's works for theatre include Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, which premiered on Broadway in 2023 and was nominated for Best Play; Merry Wives, which won the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Adaptation; Nollywood Dreams; and the multi-award winning School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, which was originally produced at MCC Theater in 2017-2018 and has gone on to have over 70 regional productions and premiered in the U.K. in 2023.
Hunter's full-length plays include The Whale, A Case for the Existence of God, Little Bear Ridge Road (arriving on Broadway this season), A Bright New Boise, Grangeville, Greater Clements, Lewiston/Clarkston, The Few, A Great Wilderness, Rest, Pocatello, The Healing, and The Harvest, among others. The film version of The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brendan Fraser, was nominated for the 2023 BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and received two Oscars, including Best Actor.
Choi is a multi-sector leader focused on sustainability and opportunity, with a career spanning business, government, journalism, and philanthropy. She was the first chief sustainability officer on Wall Street, pioneering Morgan Stanley’s sustainable investing business and leading the enterprise-wide commitment to sustainability. Choi also founded Morgan Stanley’s Community Development Finance Group, investing more than $20 billion in low-income communities.
Dramatists Guild Foundation is a national charity that fuels the future of American theatre by supporting the writers who create it. DGF fosters playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists at all stages of their careers.
Visit DGF.org.
