NHP will return to utopia for in-person writers’ retreat in New Harmony, Indiana this August, and a partnership with Steppenwolf Theatre Company
NEW HARMONY, INDIANA
The New Harmony Project (Lori Wolter Hudson, Artistic Director; David Hudson, Executive Director), an organization dedicated to supporting writers whose work focuses on the positive aspects of life, has announced that they will return to in-person programming later this summer in idyllic New Harmony, Indiana. The writers who were scheduled to be part of the 2020 conference will gather for week-long residencies August 15-21 & 22-28, 2021.
Following an extremely competitive script selection process that saw nearly 600 applications in 2019, the selected writers include Jonathan Spector (Eureka Day, This Much I Know), Benjamin Benne (National Latinx Playwriting Award for Alma), Lily Houghton (Dear, My Brother is Better at Love Than Me), Dan O’Brien (The Body of an American, The House in Scarsdale), Lina Patel (“Krypton,” The Ragged Claws), John Pielmeier (Agnes of God, The Exorcist), Sharon Washington (Feeding the Dragon), and Isaac Gómez (La Ruta, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter). Due to scheduling conflicts, Amy Evans and her play Jet Fuel will receive support at a later date.
Writers have been offered the opportunity to bring a collaborator of their choice to New Harmony for their residency this summer, and we look forward to also welcoming director/actor Jennifer Chang (VIETGONE at East West Players), director Josh Costello (artistic director of Aurora Theatre Company), actor Shannon Purser (Stranger Things, Riverdale), actor Karen Rodriguez (I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter at Steppenwolf), among others to be announced.
Additionally, following an incredibly successful collaboration with Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Center Theatre Group in 2019 to develop King James by Rajiv Joseph, The New Harmony Project is thrilled to again partner with Steppenwolf to bring a cohort of recently commissioned playwrights to enjoy a week in New Harmony where they will begin work on their new plays.
The New Harmony Project is also pleased to announce continued support for a collaboration between Seth Bockley, Angela Tillges, Tanya Palmer, and Liz Nofziger. With support from Platform: An Arts & Humanities Research Laboratory at Indiana University the Indiana University's Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance, the team will continue their development of More Perfect Places, a community engaged pageant that explores the Utopian origins of the town of New Harmony, IN.
“This year’s gathering will feel different than any other in our 35-year history. After a long, hard year of isolation and uncertainty, we’re thrilled to provide this incredible group with a restorative place to work, a nurturing environment to reset, and a small, supportive community of artists. Our hope is that it will be a very special time to recharge personally and professionally” says artistic director, Wolter Hudson.
Applications will open in the fall for the 2022 conference, which is set to take place May 23-June 4, 2022. Please visit newharmonyproject.org for more information.
The New Harmony Project boasts an impressive roster of past participants including Erika Dickerson-Despenza (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner cullud wattah, 2019 Princess Grace Award), Robert Schenkkan (All the Way, The Great Society, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner), Theresa Rebeck (Bernhardt/Hamlet, NBC’s Smash, Seminar), Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, King James) Lee Blessing (Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee, A Walk in the Woods), Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour) Steven Dietz (Lonely Planet), Donnetta Lavinia Grays (Where We Stand, Last Night and the Night Before), Vichet Chum (Bald Sisters, 2018 Princess Grace Award), James Still (four time Pulitzer Prize nominee, The Velocity of Gary), Meredith Stiehm (Emmy winner, Homeland, Cold Case), Danny Strong (two time Emmy winner, Empire, Lee Daniels’ The Butler), George Brant (Grounded, Marie and Rosetta), Idris Goodwin (Break Beat Play, How We Got On), Regina Taylor (Drowning Crow, Crowns), Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51, Actually), Dael Orlandersmith (After the Flood), Jim Leonard (Major Crimes, Dexter), Ngozi Anyanwu (The Homecoming Queen, Good Grief), Mark St. Germain (Freud’s Last Session, The Cosby Show), Matt Williams (Home Improvement, Roseanne), David McFadzean (Home Improvement, Roseanne) and Angelo Pizzo (Rudy, Hoosiers).
In April of 1986, a group of theater, film, and television professionals gathered in Indianapolis to explore the trend in the entertainment arts toward exploitative and sensational material. They concluded there was a need to engage and support writers whose work sought a goal beyond mere entertainment, work that sought to empower and uplift. It was out of this meeting that The New Harmony Project was created. For more than three decades, The New Harmony Project has been serving writers whose work emanates hope, courage, and the strength and resiliency of the human spirit. We elevate stories for theater, television, and film that inspire, enlighten, and endeavor to make the world a better place. Following a leadership transition in the fall of 2017, The New Harmony Project has begun to drastically expand its programming in Central and Southwestern Indiana, and is working tirelessly to expand its impact across the state and around the country.
The New Harmony Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For information on how to support this unique and worthwhile organization, please visit www.newharmonyproject.org.