workshop intensive Fall 2026

Audrey Lang

(she/her) was born and raised in New York City and currently resides in Dillon, CO. Her plays include alex getting better (2022 U.K. Premiere, upcoming publication with 1319 Press), You Have To Promise (2020 Pride Plays, 2023 Bay Street Theater Title Wave New Works Festival, 2021 Judith Royer Award Finalist), Birdie and Cait and the Book of Life (2023 Jewish Plays Project Finalist, 2020 Workshop Theater Fall Intensive), and Lily Ineffable (2026 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist, 2022 Jewish Plays Project Finalist). She was recently commissioned by 24/6: A Jewish Theater Company to write for the Telephone Plays. B.A. Theatre Studies, Ithaca College. www.audreyglang.com

Darline Corchado

is a Puerto Rican librarian and dyslexic storyteller—made in the Bronx, fermented in Florida, and now chilling in Queens. Before submitting plays to theaters, she wrote in the margins: on train rides, at film festivals, and between gigs while working behind the scenes on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, In the Heights, Maestro, Tick, Tick... Boom!, and many more. Her plays explore family, identity, belonging, and the absurdity of being human, often through dark comedy and bilingual storytelling. Adopted from the New York City foster care system, Darline is drawn to stories about people on the margins and voices too often left unheard. Her short play Now Auditioning: Mom & Dad was read at the inaugural Newburgh Fringe Festival in 2025 and presented at Chain Theatre’s Winter One-Act Festival in 2026.Her work has been developed through Theatre Write Now’s Playwright Cohort 3 (Press One to Continue, 2026) and The New Perspectives Theatre Company’s Women’s Short Play Lab (Below the Line, 2026). She was a finalist for The People’s Theatre Playwright Unit Cohort 2025 (Parrots Don’t Sing) and a semi-finalist for PlayList 2026 with The Cry Havoc Company. As a fellow of The Workshop Theater’s Fall 2026 Writers’ Intensive, she will continue developing Press One to Continue.

Dacyl Acevedo

is a New York based playwright and actor; Dominican American, first-generation child of working-class immigrants, raised in Hialeah, FL. She worked as an actor for over 20 years in New York, in regional theaters, TV and Film. She traveled to the Costa Chica region of Guerrero, Mexico to research her play, Lia Del Mar that she’s currently working on in the Workshop Theater's Fall Writers' Intensive. It was a finalist in Premiere Stages Play Festival 2025. Her play, Rite of Passage, a fairy tale with puppets, was featured in the Chain Theatre Winter Once Act Festival. Her short play, Token, was first featured in Planet Connections Zoom Fest “Lip Service” and the International Human Rights Art Festival 2025. Currently, she’s also working on a delirium play called Temping Forever developed in the Latinx Playwrights’ Circle. Her friend, Tamilla Woodard helped her develop her one person show, Will Work For… that she toured at festivals across the country. She was a member of the River Writer’s Unit and Dramatic Question Theatre's 2024 Playtime program. She’s a graduate of SUNY Purchase College and Columbia University’s Theatre MFA Playwriting program. 

Esterline Vielot

is a Haitian-born writer and film producer. She has written multiple forms of stories in the format of short stories, film and TV scripts, and books. She has produced numerous projects. She has experience in film production as a former student in film at G-Star School of Arts. She is the writer and producer of Joyrdin’ The Play, which debuted in Baltimore in September 2025, and TV pilot, Windhoek City, which was selected for multiple film festivals. She also self-published Part 1 of the Coconut Paradise series, A Family Heirloom and a Very Haitian Homecoming,in August 2025.  She hosts writing workshops and open mics. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and International Business with minors in Communications and Religion. She holds a Master of Arts degree in International Development. Esterline’s passion for storytelling developed as a young child when she began reading as a way to pass time and since then she’s become an avid reader, finding appreciation in the art of telling stories, imagining new worlds, and creating dynamic characters. Currently, Esterline’s stories focus on her Haitian identity and heritage with emphasis on themes she’s grappling with in her journey of self-discovery, unlearning and learning things that shaped her, themes such as cultural roots, familial relationships, ancestral connections, death, and magical realism. In this workshop, she will be working on her new play, Birthday Wish. 

Emma Joy Hill

is a playwright, performer, dramaturg, and theatre artist. Her work as a playwright centers on human rights questions, often using Brechtian devices to examine theatre as a tool for change. Particularly focused on sexual violence activism, her plays draw from past training in devised theatre and physical theatre to explore violence onstage, delving into Artaudian examinations of the grotesque. She was accepted into Columbia's MFA Playwriting Program in 2022 and received a BA in Theatre Studies/Playwriting from the University of Connecticut, where she has had multiple workshops and staged readings of her plays, including Those Hollow Bodies, which was awarded a full production at the University. She was a Finalist for Rosemary's House (2026), Yale’s MFA Playwriting Program (2024), and Semi-Finalist for The O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference (2023 + 2024). In the past, she has been commissioned by the Natural Resources Conservation Academy to develop work that addresses climate change in communities and by Studio 570 to write a piece chronicling the Women's Suffrage Movement. Additionally, she was a recipient of the Bushwick Starr's Pet Project Grant and the Foundation of the Arts Playwriting Grant in 2020. As a professional playwright, she has developed theatre throughout Connecticut, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. She has experience working with companies such as Long Wharf Theatre, Concord Theatricals, The Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Play Festival, The Brick, Women's Theatre Festival, 59E59 Theatre, Echo Theatre Dallas, Studio 570, Theatre L'Acadie, Cinnamon Summer Series, Bated Breath Theatre Company, Capital Classics, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Jorgensen Theatre, and Out of Chaos Theatre in the UK. She served as a Research Assistant for Theatre and Human Rights: The Politics of Dramatic Form (2024). She is an Adjunct Professor of Playwriting at Southern Connecticut State University. emmajoyhill.com @emmajoyhill

Natalie Welber

is a Chicago- and Dublin-based playwright, actor, and scholar of religion. Her play JUDITH IMEINU, which she is thrilled to be reworking with the Workshop Theater's intensive this fall, has twice been named a Jewish Plays Project National Contest Semi-Finalist, as well as a Parity Productions Development Award Semi-Finalist and to Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award Longlist. In 2024, Natalie was commissioned by Townsquare Productions and the Vinnytsia State Theatre to interview residents of Vinnytsia, Ukraine, and write a short play about their experiences living through war. Her resulting play, I LIVE OTHER LIVES, was awarded a Special Commendation for the Representation of Ukrainian Culture and Spirit by the Uncovered Scenes from Ukraine festival selection panel. Other plays include Romeo & Juliet riff WHEN SHE WENT TO MANTUA (Black Cat Theatre staged reading) and MONDAY MORNING STILL IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Judges’ First Place, Edmonds Driftwood Players Festival of Shorts). Natalie has a BA in Theatre and Religious Studies from Northwestern University, as well as an MPhil in Contextual Theologies and Interfaith Relations from Trinity College Dublin. For more, visit nataliewelber.com

Isa DeLeón Garcia

(they/elle/he/she) is a born-and-bred Tejané playwright, actor, director and producer based in New York City. They are the founder of Dyke Theater Co. As an artist, elle is interested in exploring the intersections of identity, masculinity, memory, deconstructing power, and theater as a tool for healing. Recent acting credits include: Bump>Set>Spike>Bruise (50th Annual OOB Play Festival/Classic Stage Company, dir. Diana Lobontiu); Homebody (The Tank: PrideFest 2025, dir. Claire McGinlay & Véro Matheny); 4044 4040 4049 (The Brick ?!: New Works, dir. Willow Funkhouser); ASÍ (The Tank: PrideFest 2024, dir. Kenny Castro). BFA: NYU Tisch.

Jacqueline Bircher

is a playwright born and raised in New York City. Full-length plays include Another Revolution, Webster's Bitch, Enduring Atlas, The Once and Future Casey Colman, and The Rule of Thirds. Her work has been produced and/or developed with Gulfshore Playhouse, the Keegan Theatre, Constellation Stage, Playhouse on Park, Primary Stages, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Phoenix Theatre Company, and the Sam French Off-Off Broadway Festival, as well as seen at universities across the country, including Caltech, Colgate, LSU, and the University of Oklahoma. She has been a finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Lark Playwrights' Week, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, the NNPN National Showcase of New Plays, and she was the first-place winner of the Woodward/Newman Award for Drama and City Theatre's National Award for Short Playwriting.

DAKOTA SILVEY

is a playwright, EMT, wildland firefighter and USAF Veteran. Dakota recently made his Off-Broadway debut with The Maker (AMT Theater), previously workshopped at the William Inge Festival’s New Play Lab.  His selected plays include: Torito (ASDS Rep), Flight Risk (Gene Frankel Theatre), and Wildfire (Semi-finalist; O’Neill NPC, AITAF Bridge Award, Savage Wonder). He is a member of La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory Company, the Playwright-Directors Workshop at The Actors Studio, and a former Sewanee Writers’ Conference Fellow. He has an M.F.A. in playwriting from The Actors Studio Drama School. dakotasilvey.com

Fouad Dakwar

is a multimedia artist and Jonathan Larson Grant recipient whose subversive comedy channels his Palestinian immigrant upbringing (with a punk-rock twist). His semi-autobiographical musical, Fouad of Nazareth, is part of NAMT’s 38th Annual Festival of New Musicals, was a semi-finalist for the Relentless Award, and was featured on the Playbill Songwriter Series which aptly described him as “a darkly comic pop-punk composer on the rise.” Fouad has been a Fellow with the Dramatists Guild Foundation and the Yes and Laughter Lab. His work has been developed at Berklee NYC, Noor Theatre, Goodspeed's Writers Grove, and Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, and had sold-out performances at Ars Nova, Asylum NYC, and Joe's Pub, where he serves as a Council Member.

Ali MacLean

is an award-winning playwright, director, and actor originally from Boston. Her work explores outsiders, class, trauma, and the absurdity of human relationships, often blending dark comedy with emotional stakes. Her writing has received the David Sedaris Humor Prize, John Gassner Award, Julie Harris Award, SheArts Best Play, TRU Voices, Citadel Playwrights Residency, Arcola Monologue Slam, and Long Beach Playhouse Best Play. She’s been a finalist in 60+ playwriting competitions, including O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and is published by Applause, Nation, and Smith & Kraus. She has written for MTV, Vh-1, Pop TV, Showtime, FOX, and more. Her TV and film work has won/been recognized by Atlanta, Toronto, and Palm Springs festivals, WeScreenplay, Script Lab, Coverfly, Screencraft, Orchard Project, TRMS,  Stowe Storylabs, Respectability, Greenlight Women, 1in4 Writers Coalition, and Women in Film. Ali is a member of the Dramatists Guild and recently completed directing workshops at Sundance and PlayPenn.

Maleek Rae

is a chain breaker from the east side of Detroit exercising their pen by wrapping word in flesh, expressed through their work as playwright, director, lyricist, and performer. Maleek works to create theatrical landscapes where the first shall come last and the last shall come first, crafting realms where the fein and the caged carry royal blood and assignment. As a recent recipient of the 2025 Princess Grace Foundation's Theatre Honoraria, the New York Stage and Film Founders' Award, and an inaugural recipient of the 2025 MC Libby Commission with Playing on Air for their play Father’s Sin, Maleek creates theatrical offerings that live at the intersection of battle cry and victory lap. Maleek’s plays include the GUTTAH Trilogy, consisting of ceremonies for alligator bait and grandfather taught me how to burn; Love Birds: or How to Fix a Broken Heart in a Day; and co-creations such as Ghetto Alchemy: A Lunchroom Survival Guide and BODYCOUNT with collaborator amani meliyah. As a performer, Maleek’s credits span theater, film, and TV, including NBC’s Law & Order: SVU; Organized Crime; HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness; and Peacock’s The Best Man: The Final Chapters. They have also been featured in Terence Nance's SWARM exhibit at ICA Philadelphia and worked as a commercial and motion capture performer. Maleek has been an artist-in-residence or fellow at institutions such as Hi-Arts, JACK, Nancy Manocherian's The Cell Theatre, The Tank, Brooklyn Art Exchange, Target Margin Theatre, The Laundromat Project, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Additionally, Maleek is a NYCSA 2026 grantee, continuing their work with Playing on Air. In this workshop, they will be working on their play, GUTTAH Part II or grandfather taught me how to burn. 

Eliana Berson

(they/them) is a playwright, screenwriter, teaching artist, and aspiring clown based out of Philadelphia, PA. Their work uses comedy to explore themes of mental health, isolation, and queerness. Eliana has a degree in theater from Temple University, and their work has been performed with GirlPope Theatre Co (Zombie Play), self produced in the 2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival (Reading of Queers in A Thrift Store With Monsters), developed with Theatre By Development (Zombie Play, Queers In A Thrift Store With Monsters), and performed at Temple University SideStage (Zombie Play, Bros, Brain Play). Their one act comedy, Cheerleader Play, is also being developed with Shampoo Research Animal in Chicago, as well as through the Metamorphosis Play Festival.  Eliana has worked as a dramaturg with GirlPope (4 White Dudes And ½ Of A Guitar), and with Temple University’s SideStage (Antigone).