ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS LAB

The Robey Theatre Company offers workshops and labs that focus on artist development. Offered on Saturdays over ten weeks and facilitated by our Resident Dramaturg, the Playwrights Lab is exclusively focused on new play development. At any given time, between five and eight plays are in development and under consideration for selection as a world premiere production by The Robey Theatre Company.The Playwrights Lab is dedicated to the art of storytelling and high-quality playmaking. The process is collaborative and designed to encourage artistic growth and expression.  Built into the design are opportunities for ongoing feedback through guided discussion and staged readings. Also, plays may be selected to be featured in The Paul Robeson Theatre Festival, Robey’s biannual, three-day, short-play festival.

Playwrights Lab

The Playwrights lab provides weekly sessions and one-on-one meetings to foster a space tailored to each writer’s needs plus curate a timeline for the author’s writing goals and needs. With an emphasis on prompts, exploration of structure and styles, writing assignments, and readings of new and published work, the Lab aims to provide a supportive environment.

Playwrights can ask questions, find their voice, and continue to experiment with ideas while building their stories. Ultimately, the goal is to develop and foster new works about the global Black experience.

Summer Schedule:

May 25 to

The workshop meets on Saturdays via Zoom, from 10 AM to 1:00 PM (PT).

If interested, please email the following information to: office@therobeytheatrecompany.org

  • An original writing sample (a scene, a one-act play, or an essay will serve as a writing sample).

  • Resume.

  • Complete contact information.

  • Prior to the first day of class, a non-refundable fee of $250 is required.

    Please note: A limited number of Lab fees will be waived in support of playwrights who require financial assistance. Deadline, February 3.

Pay Playwrights Lab Fees Here!

Alternatively, you can pay via CashApp to $robeytc. 

Please do not make a payment until you’ve been confirmed

for the lab by a Robey representative.

Reginald Edmund is the Co-Founder and Managing Curating Producer for Black Lives, Black Words International Project. Inspired by #blacklivesmatter, this project gives voice to some of the most contemporary political black writers from both the US, Canada and the UK, asking them to explore the question, “Do black lives matter today?” In addition, he was a Resident Playwright at Tamasha Theatre in London, England and an Alumni Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists Theatre, an Artistic Associate at Pegasus Theatre-Chicago and an Artistic Patriot at Merrimack Repertory Theatre; he was also a 2010-11 Many Voice Fellow with the Playwrights’ Center. His play Southbridge was runner up for the Kennedy Center’s Lorraine Hansberry and Rosa Parks National Playwriting Awards, and most recently named winner of the Southern Playwrights’ Competition, the Black Theatre Alliance Award for Best New Play and the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award. His nine-play series titled The City of the Bayou Collection, include Southbridge, Juneteenth Street, The Last Cadillac and All the Dying Voices were developed at esteemed theaters including Pegasus Theatre-Chicago, Deluxe Theatre, Actors Theatre of Charlotte, Bush Theatre (UK), Theatre @ Boston Court, The Landing Theatre, Playwrights’ Center and The National Theatre (UK). Reginald Edmund received his BFA in Theatre-Performance from Texas Southern University and his MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University.

Dramaturge/Instructor

REGINALD EDMUND

Associate Dramaturg | Dylan Southard

Dylan Southard served as Resident Dramaturg for many years and now serves as Consulting Artist.  He also manages The Robey Theatre Company’s Playwright Publishing Project.

He has worked in dramaturgy and new play development for theaters, including Centerstage Baltimore, Center Theatre Group, The Geffen Playhouse, Antaeus Theatre, Native Voices at the Autry, Boston Court Pasadena, Skylight Theatre, Theatre Dybbuk, the Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble, Rogue Artists and Casa 0101.