NYCPlaywrights October 18, 2025
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NYCPlaywrights
Oct 18, 2025, 5:13:10 PM (13 days ago) Oct 18
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Greetings NYCPlaywrights
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
Playwrights in Process (PIP)
Piper Theatre hosts monthly playwright meet ups at Old Stone House.
Are you an actor, writer, or story maker? Join Piper Theatre for this informal and supportive monthly series held at the Old Stone House.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/playwrights-in-process-pip-tickets-1761300921469?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
BREAK A LEG PRODUCTIONS seeks 20-40 minute plays for our 2026 Love Fest: Love on Location
We are looking for plays about love, set in a location that plays an integral part in the plot.
- One submission per playwright
- No children's plays or musicals
- All characters must be performed by adult actors (18 years or older)
- Length must be 20-40 pages (any more and you will not be considered.)
***
Go Try Playwrite - October 2025
The prompt for October 2025 is: An elven rebellion prompt.
***
Zora Is My Name!
A tender celebration of Zora Neale Hurston’s (Ruby Dee) life that journeys through her stories, her life’s rhythms, and the seeds of possibilities her work planted in generations of Black people.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RusqNuuZrKM
***
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.
More...
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/zora-neale-hurston-claiming-space/
***
"Three plays: Lawing and Jawing; Forty Yards; Woofing" by Zora Neale Hurston is a collection of stage plays written during the early to mid-20th century. The book showcases African American culture and experiences, frequently incorporating humor and social commentary. The plays are reflective of Hurston's unique voice and immersive storytelling that highlights the intricacies of life within the African American community. The first play, "Lawing and Jawing," unfolds in a courtroom setting in Waycross, Georgia, where Judge Dunfumy presides over a series of humorous cases that highlight the absurdities of the judicial system and societal norms. The comedic exchanges between the characters bring light to serious issues such as domestic violence and poverty, yet are presented in a satirical manner. "Forty Yards" takes place at a football game, capturing the vibrancy of the African American community rallying around their teams, filled with songs, cheers, and competition. Lastly, "Woofing" presents a lively street scene in Waycross, focusing on domestic dynamics, flirtation, and the everyday life of its characters through playful banter and music.
More...
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17187
***
Zora’s Daughters is a society and culture podcast that uses Black feminist anthropology to think about race, politics, and popular culture.
We’re two Black women anthropologists-in-training who follow in the legacy of Zora Neale Hurston and other Black women ethnographers. In our three segments What’s the Word?, What We’re Reading, and What in the World?!, we dig deeper into social issues in a way that is accessible and entertaining. By prioritizing the issues of Black women and other marginalized groups, we empower listeners to develop the tools and language that starts conversations and sparks change.
We take seriously the Combahee River Collective’s declaration that “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.” We believe that when Black women and femmes win, we all win!
https://zorasdaughters.com/about/
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
Playwrights in Process (PIP)
Piper Theatre hosts monthly playwright meet ups at Old Stone House.
Are you an actor, writer, or story maker? Join Piper Theatre for this informal and supportive monthly series held at the Old Stone House.
Contact Rachel Wood at p...@pipertheatre.org and arrange to bring 10 - 20 pages of work that you’d like to hear your words read and get a bit of feedback.
Old Stone House of Brooklyn
336 3rd Street Brooklyn, NY 11215
pipertheatre.org/brooklyn-storytellers
Old Stone House of Brooklyn
336 3rd Street Brooklyn, NY 11215
pipertheatre.org/brooklyn-storytellers
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/playwrights-in-process-pip-tickets-1761300921469?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
BREAK A LEG PRODUCTIONS seeks 20-40 minute plays for our 2026 Love Fest: Love on Location
We are looking for plays about love, set in a location that plays an integral part in the plot.
- One submission per playwright
- No children's plays or musicals
- All characters must be performed by adult actors (18 years or older)
- Length must be 20-40 pages (any more and you will not be considered.)
***
Go Try Playwrite - October 2025
The prompt for October 2025 is: An elven rebellion prompt.
Write a 10-page maximum scene or an 8-page maximum monologue of a revolt at Santa’s workshop. Elves, reindeer, Mrs. Claus, whoever could be part of the revolt. The scene can be at the beginning, middle, or end of the rebellion, or all three. Or just two. It could also be the effects of the revolt in the world outside the North Pole. Have fun!
***
The Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Wyoming invites proposals for the 2026-2027 Excellence Artist Fund Residency - Innovation in the Arts. This prestigious residency is designed to support visiting creative artists, writers, and/or scholarly programs in the development and presentation of innovative new work at the University of Wyoming, while fostering meaningful engagement with both our campus and the broader Laramie community.
Through this residency, the Department of Theatre & Dance aims to award between one and three artists, artistic groups, and/or companies with funding ranging from $50,000 to $150,000, supporting both the creative process and community-centered practices integral to the artist’s residency.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** ZORA NEALE HURSTON ***
Like her groundbreaking novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Hurston’s 1935 play, “Spunk,” has lively Black southern vernacular, a self-actualized heroine and witty, folk humor. But, even after that book became canonized, “Spunk” remained essentially unknown for years. That’s because, until its rediscovery in 1997, the play had languished in the Library of Congress’s drama collections.
But that only partly explains its absence. To mount a production as colorful and layered as her script envisioned, the play required not just critical will and patience but also a creative team capable of delving deeply into Hurston’s archives.
Set in the rural, segregated South, the story follows Spunk, an outsider, as he falls in love with Evalina, a married woman, and their attempts to overcome the naysayers, neighbors and even supernatural forces that try to prevent them from being together. When Hurston reimagined it as a play, she transformed it into a comedy, jettisoning its tragic elements and ending. She also incorporated sermons and sacred practices, like a conjure ceremony.
More...
https://archive.ph/Na7Km
***
The Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Wyoming invites proposals for the 2026-2027 Excellence Artist Fund Residency - Innovation in the Arts. This prestigious residency is designed to support visiting creative artists, writers, and/or scholarly programs in the development and presentation of innovative new work at the University of Wyoming, while fostering meaningful engagement with both our campus and the broader Laramie community.
Through this residency, the Department of Theatre & Dance aims to award between one and three artists, artistic groups, and/or companies with funding ranging from $50,000 to $150,000, supporting both the creative process and community-centered practices integral to the artist’s residency.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** ZORA NEALE HURSTON ***
Like her groundbreaking novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Hurston’s 1935 play, “Spunk,” has lively Black southern vernacular, a self-actualized heroine and witty, folk humor. But, even after that book became canonized, “Spunk” remained essentially unknown for years. That’s because, until its rediscovery in 1997, the play had languished in the Library of Congress’s drama collections.
But that only partly explains its absence. To mount a production as colorful and layered as her script envisioned, the play required not just critical will and patience but also a creative team capable of delving deeply into Hurston’s archives.
Set in the rural, segregated South, the story follows Spunk, an outsider, as he falls in love with Evalina, a married woman, and their attempts to overcome the naysayers, neighbors and even supernatural forces that try to prevent them from being together. When Hurston reimagined it as a play, she transformed it into a comedy, jettisoning its tragic elements and ending. She also incorporated sermons and sacred practices, like a conjure ceremony.
More...
https://archive.ph/Na7Km
***
MULE BONE had its opening night a little late. Sixty years late, to be precise. Although this comedy with music about life in an all-African-American Florida town was written in 1930, the play had never been produced before Lincoln Center Theater produced it in the winter of 1991. Co-writers Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, two of the most gifted black writers of the 20th century, were great friends when they began working together on this comic tale, but as Hughes put it, "this play was never done because the authors fell out." Happily, the executors of the two authors' estates have unearthed this treasure and allowed Lincoln Center Theater to present MULE BONE's long-awaited debut at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in January of 1991. Hughes and Hurston wrote the play—adapted from Hurston's story, "The Bone of Contention," about her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, during a period when images of African-Americans in popular American culture were still shaped by primitive, exotic and minstrel-show stereotypes.
More...
https://www.lct.org/shows/mule-bone/
MULE BONE had its opening night a little late. Sixty years late, to be precise. Although this comedy with music about life in an all-African-American Florida town was written in 1930, the play had never been produced before Lincoln Center Theater produced it in the winter of 1991. Co-writers Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, two of the most gifted black writers of the 20th century, were great friends when they began working together on this comic tale, but as Hughes put it, "this play was never done because the authors fell out." Happily, the executors of the two authors' estates have unearthed this treasure and allowed Lincoln Center Theater to present MULE BONE's long-awaited debut at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in January of 1991. Hughes and Hurston wrote the play—adapted from Hurston's story, "The Bone of Contention," about her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, during a period when images of African-Americans in popular American culture were still shaped by primitive, exotic and minstrel-show stereotypes.
More...
https://www.lct.org/shows/mule-bone/
***
The University of North Carolina will rename a building on campus that has long honored a former trustee who was a Ku Klux Klan leader, school officials announced Thursday.
Similar debates about buildings are playing out at other colleges, as leaders and activists argue about the legacy of slavery and racism and how to balance historic truth with efforts to make all feel welcome on campus. Leaders at Clemson recently decided there were more meaningful, less symbolic changes they could make than renaming a building, and cited the importance of understanding and learning from history. Leaders at Brown launched a series of initiatives teaching about the university’s long-ago ties to slavery.
At UNC, some students had called for Saunders Hall to be renamed, with protesters wearing nooses around their necks and signs that read, “THIS is what SAUNDERS would do to ME.” Many had asked that the building honor, instead, the first black student at Carolina before integration, the famous writer Zora Neale Hurston.
More...
https://archive.ph/b8IJJ#selection-345.0-413.319
The University of North Carolina will rename a building on campus that has long honored a former trustee who was a Ku Klux Klan leader, school officials announced Thursday.
Similar debates about buildings are playing out at other colleges, as leaders and activists argue about the legacy of slavery and racism and how to balance historic truth with efforts to make all feel welcome on campus. Leaders at Clemson recently decided there were more meaningful, less symbolic changes they could make than renaming a building, and cited the importance of understanding and learning from history. Leaders at Brown launched a series of initiatives teaching about the university’s long-ago ties to slavery.
At UNC, some students had called for Saunders Hall to be renamed, with protesters wearing nooses around their necks and signs that read, “THIS is what SAUNDERS would do to ME.” Many had asked that the building honor, instead, the first black student at Carolina before integration, the famous writer Zora Neale Hurston.
More...
https://archive.ph/b8IJJ#selection-345.0-413.319
***
Zora Is My Name!
A tender celebration of Zora Neale Hurston’s (Ruby Dee) life that journeys through her stories, her life’s rhythms, and the seeds of possibilities her work planted in generations of Black people.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RusqNuuZrKM
***
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.
More...
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/zora-neale-hurston-claiming-space/
***
"Three plays: Lawing and Jawing; Forty Yards; Woofing" by Zora Neale Hurston is a collection of stage plays written during the early to mid-20th century. The book showcases African American culture and experiences, frequently incorporating humor and social commentary. The plays are reflective of Hurston's unique voice and immersive storytelling that highlights the intricacies of life within the African American community. The first play, "Lawing and Jawing," unfolds in a courtroom setting in Waycross, Georgia, where Judge Dunfumy presides over a series of humorous cases that highlight the absurdities of the judicial system and societal norms. The comedic exchanges between the characters bring light to serious issues such as domestic violence and poverty, yet are presented in a satirical manner. "Forty Yards" takes place at a football game, capturing the vibrancy of the African American community rallying around their teams, filled with songs, cheers, and competition. Lastly, "Woofing" presents a lively street scene in Waycross, focusing on domestic dynamics, flirtation, and the everyday life of its characters through playful banter and music.
More...
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17187
***
Zora’s Daughters is a society and culture podcast that uses Black feminist anthropology to think about race, politics, and popular culture.
We’re two Black women anthropologists-in-training who follow in the legacy of Zora Neale Hurston and other Black women ethnographers. In our three segments What’s the Word?, What We’re Reading, and What in the World?!, we dig deeper into social issues in a way that is accessible and entertaining. By prioritizing the issues of Black women and other marginalized groups, we empower listeners to develop the tools and language that starts conversations and sparks change.
We take seriously the Combahee River Collective’s declaration that “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.” We believe that when Black women and femmes win, we all win!
https://zorasdaughters.com/about/
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