What's Happening!

  • OUR 2024 SEASON HAS COME TO AN END

    The last six months were the busiest in our history. We started with Winterworks at Houghton Hall in January, followed by six weeks of Grief Hotel at the Public in the spring, and we rounded it all out with Summerworks at the Wild Project, where we managed to cram in 47 performances over seven weeks.

    Some of you saw it all, some just a piece, and some met our work for the first time. We were thrilled to share it with all of you.

    Here are some photos and essays from the season, to tide you over until we have work to share again in the fall (or when we see you at our gala honoring dots!)

    Lastly: We had our most successful season at the box office ever. If you were there, you know it was full to overflowing. And you might remember that your ticket was pretty affordable—maybe even free. That’s important to us.

    But what that means is, even when we sell out all the time, tickets only cover a fraction (about 1/7th) of what it all costs, especially considering we pay people better every year (That’s important to us too!)

    Throughout the year, we support hundreds of artists, mostly early in their careers, whether in our writers or directors groups, readings, workshops, commissions, retreats, or in production. So, if you can, make a donation today and be a part of our effort to pay artists, to make beautiful, affordable work, and to do it even better next year!

  • SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR ANNUAL GALA

    As we prepare to tech our 10th collaboration with the design collective dots – and as they prepare for the Tony Awards this week – we are thrilled to announce we’ll be celebrating them at our gala on October 7th! The annual gala is a fundraising cornerstone, as well as a stylish, fun and deeply-felt event, which will be held once again at the industrial chic Etsy headquarters. Tickets at info HERE

  • ANNOUNCING SUMMERWORKS 2024

    We’ll be back at the Wild Project May 16th through June 29th with the 27th iteration of SUMMERWORKS, featuring: Usus by T. Adamson, directed by Emma Miller; Coach Coach by Bailey Williams, directed by Sarah Blush; and Find Me Here by Crystal Finn, directed by Caitlin Sullivan. Tickets on sale now! Learn more & get yours here

  • MEET THESE WRITERS DURING SUMMERWORKS

    Join us during Summerworks for free afternoon readings of plays by 10 exceptional playwrights. First, we’re teaming back up with Brown University’s MFA Playwriting Program in the Department of Theatre Arts & Performance Studies to present readings of plays by two graduating playwrights. CLICK FOR MORE

     

    Then we’ll present eight readings of work-in-progress by the 23/24 Early-Career Writers’ Group. CLICK HERE TO RSVP

  • GRIEF HOTEL'S MAGNIFICENT ENCORE RUN AT THE PUBLIC THEATER

    We were thrilled to bring Summerworks 2023’s Obie-winning hit production Grief Hotel back for a six-week run at The Public Theater, in partnership with our friends New Georges. It was very special to dig back into the play and production with the exceptional group of artists who made it, and such a joy to share it with so many more people. We had a tremendous run – sold out, extended and beloved by critics and audiences – thank you to all who attended and to all who made it possible. CLICK HERE TO READ ESSAYS AND MORE ABOUT THE SHOW

  • CONGRATULATIONS - AND A SAVE THE DATE

    This weekend, we were delighted by the news that Maryann Plunkett, dots, Liza Birkenmeier and Tara Ahmadinejad had all received Obie Awards for their work on Summerworks. Richly Deserved!

    Maybe you are one of the many many people who heard how amazing Liza, Tara and dots’ work on Grief Hotel was, and were sorry to have missed it??

    WELL GUESS WHAT! It’s coming baaaack…. this spring! Location to be announced when ticket sales open — but SAVE THE DATE!

  • WINTERWORKS 2024 HAS COME TO A CLOSE

    Thank you to the hundreds of people who joined as at Houghton Hall for the 9th annual Winterworks. We were so proud of the work these amazing artists made — and we managed to cram everyone in to share it.

  • MEET THE INCOMING COHORTS OF OUR EARLY-CAREER WRITERS' GROUP AND NEW PLAY DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP

    We’re back in action with two new groups to introduce you to! Meet the Early-Career Writers – with whom we’ll convene for play reading and dinner eating, often joined by one of their estimable mentor writers – by CLICKING HERE. During Summerworks we’ll present readings of their plays-in-progress, so join us then to get to know their work.

     

    And get to know the directors and writers in this season’s New Play Directing Fellowship by CLICKING HERE. Program mentors Anne Kauffman and Daniel Aukin, along with Clubbed Thumb staff, will support these new play processes in two phases: first with Playwrights Horizons Theater School students this fall, then in quick and scrappy workshop productions at Winterworks in January. Stay tuned for more info on that and more!

     

  • OUR NEW ANTHOLOGY - ON SALE NOW

    We’ve been eager to put out a second anthology since Funny, Strange, Provocative was published in 2007, and the last year finally provided us with the time to take on this long-awaited project. We are thrilled to announce that Unusual Stories, Unusually Told, published by Bloomsbury/Methuen, is now available!

    In it you’ll find seven Clubbed Thumb plays that span 18 years of our history, as well as essays and interviews about the work, and the often atypical processes that led to their productions.

    Read more about the book and get your discounted copy (and our first anthology) HERE

CLUBBED THUMB’S 24/25 NEW PLAY DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP

We’re excited to introduce you to the incoming cohort of artists for the New Play Directing Fellowship. These directors and playwrights will soon begin developing their new plays with with a company of emerging actors assembled for the program. In January, they’ll present these pieces during Winterworks.

This year’s fellowship features: Iris McCloughan directing Liars by Sam Bell and mentored by Sam Pinkleton; NJ Agwuna directing OriGen Story by Nina Ki and mentored by Leigh Silverman; and Laura Dupper directing A Necessary Killing by Jeana Scotti and mentored by David Cromer.

Directors Anne Kauffman and Daniel Aukin will once again oversee the program.

Iris McCloughan is a director, performance maker, and writer in New York. Their original performance work has been seen in New York at The Poetry Project, Ars Nova, The Chocolate Factory, PAGEANT, JACK, Danspace Project, CATCH, and The New Ohio. Recent direction includes Alex Tatarsky’s Sad Boys in Harpy Land (Playwrights Horizons) and Joan Jonas and Eiko Otake’s collaborative performance Drawing in Circles    WHY? (Castelli Gallery / Danspace Project). They have collaborated with numerous other artists, including Joan Jonas, Eiko Otake, Alex Tatarsky, Juliana May, Mike Lala, Alex Lin, Angie Pittman, and Pig Iron Theater Company. Iris is a past winner of the Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize from American Poetry Review. They are the author of three poetry chapbooks, including triptych (greying ghost, 2022) and Bones to Peaches (Seven Kitchens Press, 2021). Their writing has appeared in American Poetry Review, Prelude, Tupelo Quarterly, juked, jubilat, Gertrude, Denver Quarterly, and Queen Mob’s Teahouse, among many others.

Sam Bell is a writer and performer from Providence, Rhode Island. His work has been supported by Clubbed Thumb, Stillwright, and has appeared in the 3POP Festival in his backyard as well as at AS220 in Providence. He holds a BA in Playwriting and Screenwriting from SUNY Purchase.

NJ Agwuna (she/they) is a director of stage and screen. She has worked on a national and international scale exploring classic text, developing new work, devising theatrical experiences through spectacle. She’s the 2022 recipient of the SCDF Barbara Whitman Award and Assistant Directing Moulin Rouge on Broadway & the North American Tour. Selected Credits: Bulrusher by Eisa Davis & Nat Stookey (Opera Premiere, West Edge Opera), Blanks by Gethsemane Herron (Playwrights Center), A Small Light (Disney+,Shadow Director), Love All by Anna Deavere Smith (NY Workshop Assoc. Director),7 Minutes by Stefano Massini (HERE Arts), boys don’t look at boys by jeremy o’brian (NYSAF), Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage (Assoc. Director, Second Stage), The Magic Flute (Glimmerglass Festival),The Lover by Harold Pinter (DirectorFest 2020), Till: A Musical (won Best Direction), What She Found (won Best Drama; FRIGID). A Drama League Alum and an associate writer/ TA with Tectonic. Directing MFA- Columbia University; SDC

Nina Ki (xe/she/they) is a Queerean (Queer + Korean) American playwright living in Brooklyn. Xe graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2008 with a BFA in Dramatic Writing, and xer plays have been read, recorded, and presented nationwide, including with Clubbed Thumb, Ma-Yi Theater Company, MCC Theater, The Parsnip Ship, Yale Summer Cabaret, and Queens Theater. Xer play “Moon Bear” was given special consideration for the Relentless Award, and xer play “Ravage” was a finalist for the Playwrights Realm’s Fellowship. Xe was also an inaugural member of The Parsnip Ship’s Radio Roots Writer’s Group and a member of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writer’s Group, and is currently a member of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and Ma-Yi’s Writers Lab. To contact xer or learn more about xer work, please visit xer website at www.nina-ki.com.

Laura Dupper is a NYC based director originally from Tennessee. She has worked at Manhattan Theatre Club, Signature Theatre, Second Stage Theater, LCT3, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Drama League, HERE Arts, Dallas Theater Center, Columbia University, NYU, Ars Nova, and Playwright’s Horizons; she has also worked with Playwrights Realm, Barrington Stage, P73. Laura is passionate about the development of new plays and has worked on over 20 premiere productions in New York. Some favorite assisting credits include THE MINUTES and MARY PAGE MARLOWE by Tracy Letts, MORNING SUN by Simon Stephens, and STEREOPHONIC by David Adjmi. Most recently, she was the Associate Director on the Tony award winning APPROPRIATE by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Laura also recently produced the short film, DIDN’T THINK I’D SEE YOU HERE which screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Laura believes deeply in the unique collaboration imperative in creating a safe and alive space to understand, develop, and embody a new play.She has her Masters in Social Work and received her BFA from Southern Methodist University.

Jeana Scotti is a NYC based playwright, educator, and producer originally from Staten Island and currently living in Brooklyn. Her work has been developed with Dixon Place, The Tank, New Perspectives, The Bechdel Group, Access Theatre, Rutgers University, Fringe and Fur, and Theatre for a New City. She is an alumna of Clubbed Thumb’s 2021/2022 Early Career Writers’ Group. Her plays include oh, Honey (Ugly Face, 2024)  and The Possessed Girls of St. Mary’s (NPC semi-finalist).  She produces theatre in alternative spaces with her collective, Ugly Face. She currently lectures at Purchase College and the Maggie Flanigan Studio, and teaches devising to youth theatre. MFA Playwriting, Rutgers Mason Gross.

PREVIOUS FELLOWS:

2023/24: MIRANDA CORNELL, LAUREN ZEFTEL and CARSEN JOENK
2022/23: KEDIAN KEOHAN, NEMUNA CEESAY and DARA MALINA
2021/22: BLAYZE TEICHER, TARA ELLIOTT and JOSIAH DAVIS
2020/21: MICHAELA ESCARCEGA, LEONIE BELL, NANA DAKIN, ARPITA MUKHERJEE, RACHEL GITA KARP, ESTEFANÍA FADUL, KEENAN TYLER OLIPHANT and JOAN SERGAY 
2019/20: CAITLIN SULLIVAN, ANDRÉS LÓPEZ-ALICEA and EMMA MILLER
2018/19: KATE EMINGER, TARA AHMADINEJAD and SARAH BLUSH
2017/18: SARAH HUGHES, TAYLOR REYNOLDS and LILY RIOPELLE
2016/17: CAITLIN RYAN O’CONNELL, CHRISTINA ROUSSOS and LA WILLIAMS
2015/16: SANAZ GHAJARRAHIMI, LILLIAN MEREDITH, JAY STULL and KATE HOPKINS