The Drinking Gourd: Black Writers at Work
The Drinking Gourd: Black Writers at Work is a national program building a consortium of Black Theaters (both professional and community) to focus resources on the development and production of work by Black playwrights. The Drinking Gourd returns Black stories to the care of Black Institutions and builds a pathway for Black Playwrights’ work to be seen in communities from Atlanta to Seattle and beyond.
The theaters in this year’s cohort are True Colors Theatre Company (Atlanta, GA), The Hansberry Project (Seattle, WA), National Black Theatre (New York, NY), The Ensemble Theatre (Houston, TX), Hattiloo Theatre (Memphis, TN), and Karamu House (Cleveland, OH).
Consortium theaters of The Drinking Gourd are committed to the co-commission, co-development, and co-World premiere of new plays by Black playwrights.
Commission: Commissioned Playwrights receive a stipend of $10,000 to complete a production draft of a new play. The commission can take the form of a completely new idea or it can be a finishing commission of a play already in progress. Commissioned playwrights will receive a dramaturg to support them through the duration of the writing process.
Development: Playwrights selected for development will receive a dramaturg, a developmental workshop, and a stipend. The workshop will take place at one of our consortium theatres and travel and housing for the playwright and dramaturg will be provided by The Drinking Gourd.
World Premiere: Playwrights who were commissioned and developed by The Drinking Gourd are eligible for a Rolling World Premiere with two or more of the consortium theatres.
Applications for our 2025-2026 cohort are closed. We received close to 200 applications for this round. Stay tuned for updates here.
2023-24 Selected Playwrights:
Gethsemane Herron | 2023-24 Playwright
Gethsemane Herron is a playwright from Washington, D.C. She has developed work with Ars Nova, The Fire This Time Festival, The Hearth, JAG Productions, The Liberation Theater Company, The Playwright’s Center, Roundabout Theatre Company, and WP Theater. She was a 20-22 member of Ars Nova’s Play Group, a 20-22 member of the WP Lab, and a 21-22 Jerome Fellow/22-23 Many Voices Fellow at the Playwright’s Center. Winner of the Columbia@Roundabout Reading Series. Winner of the 45th Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. 2022 Recipient of the Helen Merrill Award. Finalist for the Van Lier New Voices Fellowship at the Lark and the Founders Award at New York Stage and Film. MFA: Columbia University. Proud member of the Dramatist’s Guild. Gethsemane is currently under commission with Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, Mosaic Theater Company, and the Drinking Gourd Collective. She will work on a new play with the Playwright’s Center as a 2023-2024 McKnight Fellow. She’s enamored with Sailor Moon & other magical girl warriors. She writes for survivors.
james Ijames | 2023-24 Playwright
JAMES is a Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony Award nominated playwright, a director and educator. James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago IL) Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright’s Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden. James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ….Miz Martha, a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient and a 2023 Tony nominee for Best Play for Fat Ham. James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective. He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University. He resides in South Philadelphia.
Ngozi Anyanwu | 2023-24 Playwright
Ngozi Anyanwu is a multi hyphenated storyteller most recently seen performing in Nathan Alan Davis‘s THE REFUGE PLAYS at a Roundabout Theatre with New Theatre workshop. She’s a 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award winner. Her most recent play LAST OF THE LOVE LETTERS premiered at the Atlantic Theater Company fall 2021. Previous productions include GOOD GRIEF (Vineyard Theatre in NYC / Center Theatre Group in LA) and THE HOMECOMING QUEEN (sold-out world premiere run at the Atlantic Theatre). GOOD GRIEF was on the Kilroys List 2016 and a semi finalist for the Princess Grace Award, and won the Humanitas Award. THE HOMECOMING QUEEN was on the Kilroys List 2017 and was a Leah Ryan Finalist. Her play NIKE… (Kilroys List 2017) was workshopped at The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark and The Strand Festival in conjunction with A.C.T and Space on Ryder Farm. Ngozi also has commissions with NYU, The Old Globe, Two Rivers Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre, and Steppenwolf. Anyanwu has also received residencies from LCT3, Space on Ryder Farm, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, The New Harmony Project, New York Stage and Film and Page 73. She attended Point Park University (BA) and received her MFA in Acting from University of California, San Diego.
