I’ve learned that great theatrical works – this magic of storytelling – comes from open-ended exploration and radical collaboration. This is the foundation of Working Title Playwrights“.

                              – Amber Bradshaw

Amber Bradshaw, Managing Artistic Director

AMBER BRADSHAW (she/they) is an Atlanta native, a Southern queer and a fierce believer in the power of storytelling. She is a dramaturg, director,  moderator and playwright with a sole focus in new works and script development. In Atlanta they have worked with Actor’s Express, Synchronicity Theatre, the Alliance Theatre, the Center for Puppetry Arts, Out of Hand Theatre, Out Front Theatre, Gathering Wild Dance, and Theatrical Outfit. Since 2006, Amber has directed, dramaturged and produced play readings as a freelance artist in Atlanta. Of the plays developed, the majority have gone on to be awarded readings, development labs and productions locally and nationally. For WTP, Amber directs and dramaturgs for the Ethel Woolson Lab and the Table Series, moderates regularly for all WTP programs and teaches a year-long New Play development Dramaturgy Intensive. In addition to her playwriting (Embodied, Searching for Jane) they have co-produced and written several original works (A virtual dance piece- Chords Bare, co-choreographed with Nadya Zeitlin; Circa 50 with Gathering Wild; Learning to Fly with the Center for Puppetry Arts and Identified: A Queer Variety Show! with choreographer/performance artist Corian Ellisor).  Amber is a founding member of I.D.E.A. ATL (Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in the Arts Atlanta) a collective of artists committed to providing E.D.I. education, facilitation and training for our arts community. She is a proud member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas and the 2020 Class of the Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta (ALMA).

Quinn Xavier Hernandez, Assistant Managing Director

QUINN XAVIER HERNANDEZ (they/them) is a theatremaker residing in Atlanta, GA. Their play, MOMMA, was originally developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center during their time with the National Theater Institute. It has gone on to receive development through Working Title Playwrights’ competitive Ethel Woolson Lab and will be featured in the 2021 Actor’s Express Threshold Festival. Their short plays STORM CLOUDS FOR LONELY HEARTS, EAT YOU ALIVE, and YOU ARE GOING TO DO AMAZING THINGS have been featured at the ImproStudio in L.A. through the Wishbone Theatre Collective; through the Atlanta AppCo Alumni Association; and virtually through Actor’s Express. They were one of the writers for CROSSROADS, a new play podcast developed at Actor’s Express through the National New Play Network. Quinn is also a dramaturg and director. Some of their directorial credits include SNOW WHITE & ROSE RED: A DIGITAL FAIRYTALE  (The Cultivators), HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE (Clemson Players), and HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH (AD, Warehouse Theatre). They originated the Working Title Playwrights New Play Development and Production Apprenticeship and are a founding member of The Cultivators, an Atlanta-based new works development organization for theatre and film. Quinn received their B.A. in Performing Arts (Theatre) with a minor in Dramatic Writing from Clemson University. They are also a proud alumnus of the National Theater Institute’s Advanced Playwriting program. You can learn more here: https://newplayexchange.org/users/12995/quinn-xavier-hernandez

E6DDAA67-A852-4E82-8559-A6C1A853CF72_4_5005_cLuke Evans, 2022-2023 WTP New Play Development and Dramaturgy Apprentice

Luke Evans is an Atlanta-based playwright and dramaturg. Born and raised in small town Georgia, Luke received his Bachelor’s degree from Oglethorpe University, where he double majored in English and Theatre. He then earned his Master’s degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Houston, where he wrote his Master’s thesis on the importance of queer spectatorship. As an autistic, queer-identifying artist, Luke’s work aims to provide representation for those in the queer and neurodivergent communities. His one-act play Pray On It was chosen as part of the Threshold Reading Series at Actor’s Express in 2020, while his novel The Earth Bound was published that same year by Charlie’s Port Publishing. He has several other projects in the works, all of which he hopes will offer compassion, understanding, and acknowledgment for people in all different marginalized communities (including his own).

3239032A-FBA7-4C60-A394-7FCA8C4DA6CFMarcus Scott, 2022-2024 Rosalind-Ayres Williams Memorial Scholarship recipient

MARCUS SCOTT is a playwright, musical theatre writer & journalist. Selected works: “Tumbleweed” (finalist for the 2017 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the 2017 Festival of New American Plays at Austin Playhouse; semifinalist for the 2022 Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference, the 2022 Blue Ink Playwriting Award and the 2017 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award), “Sibling Rivalries” (finalist for the 2021 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and the 2021 ATHE-KCACTF Judith Royer Excellence In Playwriting Award; semi-finalist for the 2022 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, the 2021 Blue Ink Playwriting Award and the 2021 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award) and “Cherry Bomb” (NY Theatre Barn New Works Series; recipient of the 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence). He was commissioned by Heartbeat Opera to adapt Beethoven’s “Fidelio” (Librettist/Co-writer; The Met Museum, Mondavi Center; NY Times Critic’s Pick and scored “Highbrow and brilliant” by New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix). Scott is a 2021 NYSAF Founders’ Award finalist and a 2021 Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award semi-finalist. His articles appeared in Architectural Digest, Time Out New York, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, Elle, Out, Essence, The Brooklyn Rail, among others. MFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

 

BAD353A2-E1F2-4E27-AE23-A42CB0287DD2_1_105_cNikki Skies, 2022-2023 WTP New Play Development and Dramaturgy Apprentice

NIKKI SKIES is an accomplished poet/author, dramaturg, playwright and actor. Her latest play, Seasons is Her Name, debuted at the 2022 Mid American Theatre Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2017, her play, Hope’s Return, had its debut at the esteemed National Black Theatre Festival as a part of the New Works Reader’s Theatre among a national selection of over 400 plays. NIkki has been commissioned to write a play on Black women mathematicians through the RISE educational grant in collaboration with faculty from the University of South Carolina at Beaufort. For television, Skies was a creative writer for the drama and for the digital series, “Rebel Yell.” A Grambling State University alumna (B. A. in Theatre/Acting), Nikki studied in the Masters Film program for Screenplay Writing at Howard University, received a M.A. in Africana Women’s Studies from Clark Atlanta University, and is currently a doctoral student in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Georgia where she recently matriculated with a graduate certificate in African American Studies. Skies is currently adjunct faculty at Spelman College in the Arts and Visual Culture Department. More on Nikki Skies at www.nikkiskies.wordpress.com.

During her tenure as the New Play Development Apprentice, Skies shares, “I am interested in applying an intersectional approach to the dramaturgical process that brings into conversation, the existing interlocked social constructs that typically may not be addressed. I imagine these conversations will expand the commonplace ‘what is happening’ to a ‘how this may be happening’. How might this approach influence the set design, music and lighting? Additionally, how might these conversations consider the diversity in an audience?”

6DE63748-425B-4DD6-BEAA-F3F45A625BA1Sondai Nanabuluku, 2021-2023 Rosalind-Ayres Williams Memorial Scholarship recipient

SONDAI (he/him) is a Georgia born writer and all around theatre lover. “I am a profound believer in the power of the spoken word being invoked on a stage and to me, that means understanding your foundation first and foremost which is why I focus on self-love for the characters in my work. The name Sondai means keep pushing forward and I try to assure people that we all have the ability to persevere within us through an artistic exploration of history, spiritual revelations, and discovering a more genuine sense of self-love.” As a writer Sondai has created numerous full length, one-act as well as short plays and is extremely grateful for the opportunity to grow professionally through the support of Working Title Playwrights.

Board of Directors

  • Margaret Baldwin – (Lecturer and Interim General Education Coordinator, Kennesaw State University)
  • Amber Bradshaw – Managing Artistic Director (Dramaturg, Director, Moderator, Playwright; IDEA ATL co-founding member)
  • Paul Donnelly – Treasurer (Playwright)
  • Kathi Frankel – Secretary (Registered Physical Therapist/Private Practice.
    Volunteer birth support for Friends of Refugees/Project Embrace)
  • Christopher Hampton – (Multi-hyphenate theatre artist and co-owner of The Point of Health Wellness Center)
  • Quinn Xavier Hernandez – Assistant Managing Director, ex officio
  • Hank Kimmel – Outreach and Development  (Henry W. Kimmel, Esq. Mediator. Managing Partner of Turtle Bay House, LLC)
  • Antonia LaChé – (Creative Artist, Dramaturg, and Administrator)
  • Maya Lawrence – Equity and Inclusion (Resident Artist/ Allyship Director, the Alliance Theatre. IDEA ATL co-founding member.)
  • Susan Pavlin – President (Co-Founder and Principal of Taproot)
  • Patti Siegel – (Executive Director, ArtsATL)

Advisory Council

The advisory council provides guidance and counsel for the continuing development and realization of the mission and functions of WTP.

  • Freddie Ashley (Artistic Director, Actor’s Express)
  • Mark Bly (Freelance Dramaturg and former Yale professor)
  • Gary Cadwallader (Director of Community Education and Engagement, Palm Beach Dramaworks, FL)
  • Celise Kalke (Managing Director, Synchronicity Theatre)
  • Elizabeth Carlin Metz (Founding Artistic Director, Vitalist Theatre, Chicago; Professor of Theatre, Knox College)
  • Emily Morse (Artistic Director, New Dramatists, NYC)
  • Christopher Moses (Associate Artistic Director, the Alliance Theatre)
  • Carlos Murillo (Playwright)
  • Olubajo Sonubi (Casting Director, TV & Film; GSU Professor)
  • Roland Tec (Playwright)
  • Pamela Turner (SE Representative, Dramatists Guild of America)
  • Alexis Williams (Associate Artistic Director, The Playwrights Realm, NYC)

Pictured in banner: The cast and crew of Son of the Father by Ian Gibson as part of the TABLE Series: Erika Ragsdale, Ian Gibson, Mia Kristin Smith, Kyrun Walker-Smith, Kerwin Thompson, Parris Sarter, Markell Williams, Daviorr Snipes, Mahalia Jackson, Duran Jones, Avery Sharpe, Jarod Brodie, and Isake Akanke.