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"Sojourners" by Mfoniso Udofia, at The Playwrights Realm in 2016. Pictured: Chinasa Ogbuagu and Hubert Point-Du Jour. (Photo by Chasi Annexy)

Playwrights Realm Sets Female-Focused 2016–17 Season

The season will include new plays by Sarah DeLappe, Jen Silverman, and Mfoniso Udofia.

NEW YORK CITY: The Playwrights Realm has announced the lineup for its 2016–17. The roster includes new plays from Sarah DeLappe and Jen Silverman, as well as a partnership with New York Theatre Workshop to present two new plays by Mfoniso Udofia.

“This season will be our most ambitious season yet, with two brave and adventurous plays and a total of 16 roles—we’ll be supporting the greatest number of artists in our history,” said artistic director Katherine Kovner in a statement. “The perspectives on gender and the female experience that these plays offer are revelatory and piercing. And I’m excited that in our 10th anniversary we can provide a platform not just for two brilliant women playwrights but also for so many compelling female characters.”

The season will launch with the world premiere of Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves (Aug. 29–Sept. 24). A company of 10 female actors will play an all-girl high school soccer team, training for upcoming games. The play will be presented at the Realm’s new home for the season, the Duke on 42nd Street.  Lila Neugebauer will direct.

Next will be Jen Silverman’s The Moors (Feb. 27–March 25, 2017). The play is set in the 19th century Yorkshire moors and follows the female denizens of an English estate. The play will also be presented at the Duke. Mike Donahue will direct.

In spring 2017, Mfoniso Udofia’s Sojourners and Her Portmanteau will be presented in repertory at New York Theatre Workshop, in association with Playwrights Realm. Udofia is the 2015–16 Page One Playwright, and her plays are about the ties that bind mothers and daughters. Ed Sylvanus Iskandar will direct.

The Playwrights Realm develops and presents plays from early career playwrights.

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