Tags: Dramatists Guild Foundation

The Dramatist

From the Desk of DGF: The Musical Theatre Issue

In June of this year, DGF received its first donation from first graders. The students of PS 212 in midtown Manhattan donated the proceeds of their show Dolly and the Beast to support our programs nurturing writers. Their show was a musical revue of the songs of Jerry Herman set to a book and story that the students...
Advocacy Newsroom

DGF Announces Steven Schwartzberg Grants for Mental Health and Wellness

For so many, the uncertainty and challenges of this year have had a severe impact on not only physical health, but mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn global attention to the importance of mental wellness.  In The Dramatists Guild Foundation's conversations with dramatists during this unprecedented time, they have realized that financial restrictions have made prioritizing mental health and wellness out of reach for many. DGF has...
Advocacy Newsroom

"Write in the Dark" - A DGF Benefit on Dec 21

Please join our friends at The Dramatists Guild Foundation on Monday, December 21 at 7pm EST for Write in the Dark, a virtual benefit to support theatre writers. Write in the Dark will spotlight the work of theatre writers who have captured the impact and energy of cultural moments throughout history. Featuring DG members Michael R. Jackson, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Sarah Jones, Melissa Li, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Heidi Schreck, Stephen...
The Dramatist

DGF Emergency Grants

This year, in response to the pandemic’s devastation of theatrical work, the Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) has increased its cash gifts to playwrights fifteen-fold, an unprecedented rise. In the first six months of this year, the Foundation has given nearly $...
The Dramatist

Insider Tracks

I’ve known Beth Blatt for years, first as a DGF Fellow, then as a friend and colleague. Throughout the years, Beth has always been the first person to say ‘how can I help’ whenever a friend is in need. During this time of fear and uncertainty, she has again stepped up by creating a platform for people to assist the Dramatists Guild Foundation.
The Dramatist

DGF Fellows: Mathilde Dratwa

The Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellows program is a selective, year-long intensive for playwrights, composers, lyricists, and bookwriters. The program provides these talented writers access to accomplished professionals who help them hone their process and find their unique voice through one-on-one mentoring, exclusive internships, and staged presentations of their work for top theater professionals....
The Dramatist

DGF: Our 9th Gala

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us at our 9th Gala this last November, honoring President of Concord Theatricals, Sean Patrick Flahaven, TodayTix Founders Brian Fenty and Merritt Baer, and Tony Award-winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Each of these honorees was chosen because of their history of tremendous...
The Dramatist

DGF Fellows: Aryanna Garber & Benjamin Velez

We loved the camaraderie of the Fellows Program, building friendships with playwrights as well as musical theater writers, and having a fresh perspective on our material. Borderline tells the story of Anna, a young woman with Borderline Personality Disorder who has always struggled for normalcy amidst a revolving door of therapists and prescriptions. In this scene, Anna meets her court-ordered therapist, Dr. Brenner, for the first time.  ...
The Dramatist

DGF Fellows: Charles Gershman

The DGF Fellowship gave me the time and space to deeply explore a new play I’m working on about a married gay couple, Will and Bram, who take in a foster teen named Devin.   Stopover by Charles Gershman   Steven sits on the couch next to Bram, who picks up the Rubik’s Cube and anxiously fiddles with it....
The Dramatist

DGF Fellows: Jay Adana & Zeniba Now

The DGF Fellows program was probably the smartest thing we ever did for this show. The resources were so incredibly helpful at this point in our careers. The Loophole is a folk/rap sci-fi adventure musical set during the final year of The American Civil War. Polly, a brilliant biracial black cartographer and scientist, must choose between comfort and revolution. In this excerpt: Polly has left her house for the very first time and made her way...
The Dramatist

DGF Fellows: Erika Dickerson-Despenza

Through my Fellowship, I was able to create community with incredible artists and exchange processes and critical feedback to generate stronger work, which became my first two-hander and the first work in my ten-play Katrina Cycle, shadow/land. Part family lore, part historical re/visioning, the play takes us back to August 2005. Frequent burglary and Magalee’s progressive dementia has made property upkeep an extra burden for her daughter,...
The Dramatist

From the Desk of DGF - The Coping Issue

For those of you that were able to attend the Gala this year, thank you for your incredible contributions to your fellow writers. I am so proud of the work DGF does; every day I see how pouring resources into writers’ lives helps support all of us. It is through the Gala that this is possible. I wanted to take a moment to give special thanks to our honorees, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Brian Fenty and Merritt Baer, and Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. They...
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