NEW YORK: Parity Productions has announced the winners of their third annual Parity Commission. The two playwrights awarded will receive $2,500 each and developmental support for their plays, with an option for production.

The winning playwrights are Shualee Cook for Cercle Hermaphroditos and Gina Femia for you know, that Bakery out in Bensonhurst that don’t got a name.

Cook has been a resident playwright at Tesseract Theatre in St. Louis and at Stage Left Theatre in Chicago. A fellow with Shakespeare Festival St. Louis‘ Confluence Regional Writers’ Project, Cook’s work has been developed or staged at Boise Contemporary Theatre, Mustard Seed Theatre, Quantum Dragon Theatre, and numerous festivals. She is a two-time finalist for the Goodman Theatre Playwrights Unit. Cercle Hermaphroditos was a finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.

Femia’s plays include ALLOND(R)A, winner of the Leah Ryan Prize; We Are a Masterpiece, winner of the Doric Wilson Award; The Mermaids’ Parade, a Princess Grace Award finalist; and Annie and the Fat Man, a Kilroys’ List honorable mention, among others. Her work has been developed or staged at Playwrights Horizons and Center Theatre Group’s Block Party, among others. A writer in residence with Spicy Witch Productions, Femia is an alum of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, Pipeline Theatre’s PlayLab, and New Georges’ Audrey Residency. She has received residences with Powerhouse, Page 73, SPACE on Ryder Farm, the National Theater Institute, and Fresh Ground Pepper, and is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College.

Parity Productions produces new works with at least 50 percent of creative positions filled by women and/or transgender or gender-nonconforming (TGNC) artists. They also operate a database of women and TGNC artists.