The Kilroys 2015’s ‘The List’ includes plays by Eugenie Chan, Sam Chanse, Hansol Jung, Nambi E. Kelley, Rehana Lew Mirza, Leah Nanako Winkler, Lynn Nottage, Jiehae Park, Lisa Ramirez, Tanya Saracho, Jen Silverman, Susan Soon He Stanton, Lauren Yee and More among the 53 most recommended works

THE KILROYS ©ELISABETH CAREN 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Zakiyyah Alexander, Bekah Brunstetter, Sheila Callaghan, Carla Ching, Annah Feinberg, Sarah Gubbins, Laura Jacqmin, Joy Meads, Kelly Miller, Meg Miroshnik, Daria Polatin, Tanya Saracho, and Marisa Wegrzy make up the THE KILROYS, a gang of playwrights and producers in LA who are done talking about gender parity and are taking action.

In 2014, The Kilroys began THE LIST as a response to systemic gender bias in theater programming. The vetted collection of industry-recommended works was designed to bring worthy plays by female and trans* playwrights to the forefront of American theater conversation: and it has. Following inclusion in the 46 plays on 2014’s THE LIST, more than 47 productions have been mounted or announced. Playwrights featured on THE LIST have cited a significant increase in interest and readership of their work. One theater agent noted that a LIST play received a level of inquiry usually reserved for “when a new play goes into production or we announce a premiere.” Public reading series’ devoted to LIST-nominated plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles; Summer 2015 festivals are planned in Baltimore and Portland.

Following a record-breaking year of success for female and trans* playwrights, THE KILROYS has released its second annual LIST of industry-recommended new plays.

2015’s THE LIST compiles the top un- and under-produced plays written by female and trans* writers, following a survey of over 300 professional artistic directors, literary managers, professors, producers, directors, and dramaturgs. THE LIST serves as a resource for producers and theaters in continuing this movement. The Kilroys have partnered with the New Play Exchange to provide interested parties fast & easy access to THE LIST plays.

2015’s THE LIST features the 53 most recommended works of over 755 nominated plays. The nominees represent an abundance of excellent new work by female and trans* playwrights, and reflect a wide ethnic, geographic, and aesthetic diversity. A nominated play must be unproduced or have had only a single professional production. Plays on 2014’s THE LIST are not eligible. THE LIST from both years is available at www.thekilroys.org.

2015’s THE LIST

YOU GOT OLDER by Clare Barron

PEERLESS by Jiehae Park

SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS by Bess Wohl

THE GHOSTS OF LOTE BRAVO by Hilary Bettis

CARDBOARD PIANO by Hansol Jung

NO MORE SAD THINGS by Hansol Jung

KENTUCKY by Leah Nanako Winkler

THE ROOMMATE by Jen Silverman

I WILL BE GONE by Erin Courtney

SOJOURNERS by Mfoniso Udofia

BALLAST by Georgette Kelly

FEATHERS AND TEETH by Charise Castro Smith

FRUITING BODIES by Sam Chanse

GIRL SHAKES LOOSE HER SKIN by Zakiyyah Alexander and Imani Uzuri

KING LIZ by Fernanda Coppel

STILL NOW by Katie Bender

WOLF PLAY by Hansol Jung

KING OF THE YEES by Lauren Yee

MILLER, MS by Boo Killebrew

PETTY HARBOUR by Martyna Majok

SMART PEOPLE by Lydia R. Diamond

SOLDIER X by Rehana Lew Mirza

THE WOLVES by Sarah DeLappe

UGLY LIES THE BONE by Lindsey Ferrentino

UNSEEN by Mona Mansour

SAGITTARIUS PONDEROSA by MJ Kaufman

SWEAT by Lynn Nottage

AN ALMANAC FOR FARMERS AND LOVERS IN MEXICO by Kate Tarker

CAMDENSIDE by Sarah Burgess

COLONY COLLAPSE by Stefanie Zadravec

MANAHATTA by Mary Kathryn Nagle

NATIVE SON by Nambi E. Kelley

ROMEO & NAOMI RAMIREZ by Kathryn Walat

RESIDENCE by Laura Jacqmin

THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN PORNOGRAPHY by Hilary Bettis

NOLLYWOOD DREAMS by Jocelyn Bioh

MEN ON BOATS by Jaclyn Backhaus

SPILL by Leigh Fondakowski

BULLY by Amina Henry

COCKED by Sarah Gubbins

DIRTY CRUSTY by Clare Barron

FADE by Tanya Saracho

GIVE IT ALL BACK by Calamity West

THE LAST MATCH by Anna Ziegler

MADAME HO by Eugenie Chan

SUPERTRUE by Karen Hartman

THE ASHES UNDER GAIT CITY by Christina Anderson

THE INSURGENTS by Lucy Thurber

THE TIGER AMONG US by Lauren Yee

THE UNDENIABLE SOUND OF RIGHT NOW by Laura Eason

THE WOLFE TWINS by Rachel Bonds

TO THE BONE by Lisa Ramirez

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY by Susan Soon He Stanton

Click here for the 2015 Honorable Mentions: The Top 32%.

BIOS FOR THE KILROYS
ZAKIYYAH ALEXANDER is a playwright, television writer, and occasional actor. Her plays have been seen and/or developed around the country, received numerous awards and commissions. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama (MFA in playwriting); for four years she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bard College where she taught undergraduate playwriting, as well as graduate television writing at Columbia University. Most recently, a writer on the television show “Grey’s Anatomy”. Currently, she is developing a musical with Imani Uzuri (featuring the poetry of Sonia Sanchez). Zakiyyah is a native New Yorker and was raised in Queens and Brooklyn.

BEKAH BRUNSTETTER‘s plays include Going to a Place Where you Already Are (SCR, Spring 2016), The Oregon Trail (O’Neill Playwright’s Conference; Upcoming, DC Women’s Playwright’s festival), Be A Good Little Widow (Ars Nova, The Old Globe) and Oohrah! (The Atlantic; Steppenwolf Garage.) She is currently an Executive Story Editor on ABC Family’s “Switched at Birth”. MFA, the New School for Drama.

SHEILA CALLAGHAN is a NY and LA based playwright, founding member of the Obie winning playwright’s organization 13P, and New Dramatists alum. Plays include Scab, Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake), Dead City, That Pretty Pretty; Or, The Rape Play, Everything You Touch, Elevada, and Women Laughing Alone With Salad. She is published with Playscripts and Samuel French, and several of her collected works are published with Counterpoint Press. Sheila is currently a writer/producer on the Showtime comedy “Shameless”.

CARLA CHING started doing theater with NYC collective Peeling. Fast Company, TBA and The Sugar House at the Edge of the Wilderness have been produced by South Coast Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, 2g and Porkfilled Productions. Alumna: Women’s Project Lab, Lark Playwrights Workshop, CTG Writers’ Workshop, Ma-Yi Writers Lab. Former Artistic Director of 2g and staff writer on “Graceland”. Proud member of New Dramatists. Upcoming: Nomad Motel at the 2015 O’Neill Playwrights Conference.

ANNAH FEINBERG‘s plays, which include The Beautiful Beautiful Sea Next Door, Numismatics, and The Ivories, have been developed and produced by Ars Nova, Naked Angels, EBE Ensemble, and Clubbed Thumb. She has served in artistic and literary capacities for The Civilians, LCT3, MTC, Steppenwolf, Northlight, ICM, TimeLine and 13P. She wrote and directed short film “Gretch and Tim” and recently assisted on A+E’s Damien and HBO’s Veep. MFA Dramaturgy: Columbia University.

SARAH GUBBINS hails from Chicago. Her plays include The Kid Thing (Jeff Award and Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award), fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life, Fair Use, The Drinking Problem, and Cocked. She’s has been a Carl J. Djerassi Fellow and Jerome Fellow. Currently she’s an Artistic Associate at About Face Theater and a Core Writer of the Playwrights’ Center. She holds a M.F.A. from Northwestern University in Writing for the Screen + Stage. She lives in Los Angeles with her dog Gil.

LAURA JACQMIN is a Chicago-based playwright, TV writer, and video game writer. Plays: A Third (Finborough Theatre), Look, We Are Breathing (Sundance Theatre Lab; Rivendell Theatre), January Joiner (Long Wharf Theatre), Ski Dubai (Steppenwolf Theatre), Dental Society Midwinter Meeting (Chicago Dramatists/At Play, remounted 16th Street Theater and Theater on the Lake; Williamstown Theatre Festival), and more. Awards: Wasserstein Prize, two NEA Art Works Grants, ATHE-Kennedy Center David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award, two MacDowell Fellowships. Television: “Grace and Frankie” (Netflix); “Lucky 7 “(ABC). Video games: Minecraft: Story Mode (Telltale Games). BA Yale University, MFA Ohio University.

JOY MEADS is Literary Manager/Artistic Engagement Strategist at Center Theatre Group. Recent dramaturgy credits include Forever by Dael Orlandersmith, Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison (2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist), The Royale by Marco Ramirez, & Radiate by Daniel Alexander Jones. Previously, Joy was Literary Manager at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Associate Artistic Director at California Shakespeare Theater. Joy has also developed plays with NYTW, Berkeley Rep, Denver Center, the O’Neill, Portland Center Stage, South Coast Rep, & Campo Santo, among others. @capnjoy

KELLY L. MILLER is the Director of Development for New Neighborhood. For the last six years, she served as South Coast Repertory’s Literary Director and the Co-Director of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. She dramaturged over 40 world premiere productions and readings at SCR and created the CrossRoads commissioning project. Miller has worked at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown, Long Wharf Theatre and consulted for the O’Neill, Berkeley Rep, the Kennedy Center, PlayPenn, the Public and many others. She continues to develop new work with her company Creative Destruction. @kellymiller03

MEG MIROSHNIK’s plays include The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (Yale Rep; Alliance), The Tall Girls (Alliance; O’Neill; La Jolla Playhouse DNA Series), The Droll (Pacific Playwrights Festival) and Lady Tattoo. Awards: Whiting Award, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist, Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award. Publications: Samuel French. Commissions: South Coast Rep, Steppenwolf, and Yale Rep. MFA: Yale School of Drama under Paula Vogel. Affiliation: Core Writer at the Playwrights’ Center. Meg hails from Minneapolis and currently lives in Los Angeles. @megmiroshnik

DARIA POLATIN is a playwright and TV writer, and recently worked on the upcoming Starz ballet drama “Flesh and Bone.” Her plays include In Tandem, The Luxor Express, Guidance, That First Fall, D.C., and A Fair Affair; her work has been produced at The Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Naked Angels, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Golden Thread Productions, in London, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Member of Center Theatre Group Writers’ Workshop, residency with London’s Royal Court Theatre, alumna of EST’s Youngblood. She has directed plays, and the short film “Till It Gets Weird.” BFA Boston University, MFA Columbia University. Kennedy Center/A.C.T.F. Best One-Act Play, Middle East America Playwriting Prize Honorable Mention. Plays published by Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing Company, and Vintage Books. dariapolatin.com @DariaPolatin

TANYA SARACHO (born in Sinaloa, México) is a playwright, actor and TV writer (HBO’s Looking & Girls, Devious Maids) who is currently writing for How To Get Away With Murder.  Produced at: Denver Theatre Center (upcoming), 2nd Stage (NYC), Steppenwolf Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Goodman Theater, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, Fountain Theater, Clubbed Thumb, NEXT Theater and 16th Street Theater. Plays include: Fade; Hushabye; The Tenth Muse; Song for the Disappeared; Enfrascada; El Nogalar (inspired by The Cherry Orchard); an adaptation of The House on Mango Street for Steppenwolf; Our Lady of the Underpass; Kita y Fernanda and Quita Mitos. In Development with: HBO (adaptation of Mala Hierba), Two Rivers Theatre, Denver Theater Center, South Coast Rep., Goodman Theater, and Steppenwolf Theatre. Tanya’s a proud Union member of SAG/AFTRA & WGA. @TanyaSaracho

MARISA WEGRZYN Chicago playwright working in LA. Writer of Mud Blue Sky, The Butcher of Baraboo, Hickorydickory, Killing Women, Ten Cent Night, other stuff. Gigs at Steppenwolf, Second Stage NYC, Baltimore Centerstage, A Red Orchid Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre Seven, Moxie Theatre, other places. Winner of the Wendy Wasserstein Playwriting Prize. Writer on TV shows Mind Games (ABC) and The Mentalist (CBS). Enjoys weather. @howdymarisa

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon and Taxman. She has guest starred on “One Life to Live,” “As the World Turns,” and “New York Undercover.” She is profiled in Jade Magazine.

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