Woodie King, Jr. founded New Federal Theatre in 1970. He began his professional career in 1965 as Cultural Arts Director for Mobilization for Youth. As Director of New Federal Theatre, Mr. King has produced over 400 plays by the most important writers in theatre, including LeRoi Jones’ (Amiri Baraka) A Recent Killing, Ed Bullins’ The Taking of Miss Janie (Drama Critics’ Circle Award), J.E. Franklin’s Drama Desk Award-winning Black Girl, Ntozake Shange’s Tony-nominated For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, and David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and the Railroad. Mr. King is an acclaimed director who has directed productions for regional theatres throughout the U.S. He directed Checkmates by Ron Milner for ETA Chicago, Inner City Cultural Center, Westwood Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles (winner of the NAACP Image Award, Best Director), Jomandi Theatre in Atlanta, Waterfront Theatre San Francisco, Arena Stage in Washington, DC; and on Broadway starring Denzel Washington and Ruby Dee. Mr. King also directed James Weldon Johnson’s adaptation of God’s Trombone for the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia, The Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC and New Federal Theatre in NYC. He has directed off-Broadway and in resident theatres. Mr. King is the recipient of the AUDELCO Award for Best Director for Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil by Bill Harris and Appear and Show Cause by Steve Taylor. A writer, editor, drama critic and teacher, Mr. King has taught at Yale University, Columbia University, Oberlin College, and Penn State University.
Mr. King is the recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Achievement, and Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Wayne State University, a Doctorate of Fine Arts from the College of Wooster, and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from John Jay College (CUNY), a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Lehman College. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in January, 2012; in 2013 he received the Edwin Booth Award; and in 2016, he received the Ida B. Wells Award from the National Conference of Black Writers.