Huntington Playwriting Fellows
Huntington Playwriting Fellows are awarded two-year residencies during which they receive a modest honorarium from the theatre, participate in a writers’ collective with the artistic staff, attend Huntington productions and events, and are eligible for readings and support through the Breaking Ground reading series. The Fellows program is supported by the Stanford Calderwood Fund for New American Plays.
Learn more about the Huntington Playwriting Fellows
The Huntington is interested in fostering artistic relationships with local playwrights at all stages of their careers, from emerging talents to established professionals. This program provides a framework for an in-depth two-year artistic conversation and a long-term professional relationship. The program also encourages conversation in the Boston playwriting community. Past participants are leaders of the local community whose plays have been produced on the Huntington's stages and throughout the country.
While it is less common for playwrights who have never received a professional production to become fellows, there have been exceptions, and all writers regardless of their level of professional experience are invited to apply. Professional representation (agents or managers) is of no consideration in the application process; most writers do not have agents when they enter the program.
Becoming a Huntington Playwriting Fellow is not a guarantee of production by the Huntington, though roughly half of our past fellows have been produced by the theatre including Melinda Lopez, Ronan Noone, Lydia R. Diamond, Rebekah Maggor, Ryan Landry, Kirsten Greenidge, Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, and Sinan Ünel. In our 2012-2013 season, we will produce a production by Ryan Landry. In all cases, the writers concluded their residency period before the time of production.
Current and past fellows are also sometimes invited to participate in unique artistic opportunities, such as creating audioplays for the Emerging America Festival.
Huntington Playwriting Fellows Application Process
Huntington Playwriting Fellows Application Form
Residency Requirement: To be eligible, writers must live at least nine months of the year within commuting distance of Boston. Any writer willing to commute in for bi-weekly meetings will be considered from surrounding areas (i.e. Providence, Amherst, etc.). As we desire participants who can take full advantage of the program, all conflicts that will require applicants to leave the Boston area for an extended period of time will be taken under advisement, but do not preclude applying. Please contact us with any specific residency situations or questions, and please be as frank as possible about any other commitments.
To apply: Please submit the following, via e-mail by Tuesday, May 15, 2012:
- Application form with all information provided, including references.
- Professional resume—Please list all productions, residencies, readings, publications, professional affiliations, and other theatre background. If you work outside of theatre and/or the arts, we are interested to know that, as well.
- One-page artistic statement.
Your one-page essay should be your succinct statement of why you are interested in participating in the Huntington Playwriting Fellows program. It may touch on any or all of the following questions:
- How would the HPF program contribute to your growth as an artist?
- In light of the fact that the fellows program is primarily a writers’ collective, what sparks your interest in participating in one (or if you have before, what will you gain that is new)?
- What goals would you set for yourself during your residency at the Huntington, and how do these fit with your larger personal goals as an artist?
- Why the Huntington?
- What would your expectations be?
- One full-length or one-act play.
- If you have submitted a full-length play to the Huntington within the last year, we will automatically apply it as your writing sample, and there is no need to send an additional play. Simply specify this on your application form. It is likely we still have it on file, and we will contact you if we require any additional copies of the play.
- If you have not submitted a full-length play to the Huntington within the past year, please send us an electronic manuscript of a play you have recently finished or are currently at work on. We will also accept one-acts.
- Playwrights may not resubmit work that was previously considered by the Huntington. This includes work submitted for previous Huntington Playwriting Fellow application cycles; as we are reading to engage with a playwright’s voice, it is more useful for us to read multiple plays by one author than updated drafts of previously considered scripts. We encourage you to send us a full-length draft of a play you are currently working on, even if you do not consider it to be "finished."
Please submit these materials to: submissions@huntingtontheatre.org
TIMELINE FOR APPLICATIONS
- Applications due: May 15, 2012
- Reading of applications: June 2012
- Meetings and interviews: July 2012
- Notification to applicants: late August 2012
- Public announcement: September 2012
Please contact Charles Haugland, Artistic Programs and Dramaturgy with any and all questions at 617 273 1502 or by chaugland@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu.