THURSDAY, OCT. 17 Commissioning Night &
MONDAY, OCT. 21 Performance Night at 6:00PM
a two-nights-only benefit evening of mini-masterpieces written in minutes by New Dramatists residents and alums—inspired by the prompts of adventurous commissioners
The Fred and Adele Astaire Ballroom
at Houghton Hall Arts Community:
22 East 30th Street
New York, NY 10016
Commissioner Robin Lynn draws her playwright's name out of the legendary hat.
Spring 2024 writers gather: the calm before the writing whirlwind
THE HAT
The New Dramatists Hat (generously donated by alumnus David Grimm) is put to use whenever a ND writer must be selected over another…when we can submit only one writer for an Award, for example, or when we have one spot left in PlayTime and two interested writers. During NOCTURNAL COMMISSIONS, each commissioner's writer is drawn out of The Hat.
THE WRITERS
Kevin Artigue writes plays, TV, and film. He was raised in Redlands, CA and calls Brooklyn home. He’s a current member of The Working Farm @ SPACE at Ryder Farm, the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages ... read full bio
Migdalia Cruz, the 2023 DGF Legacy Playwright, is a Bronx-born playwright, lyricist, translator, and librettist with over 60 works performed in 150 venues across 40 cities in 12 countries. ... read full bio
Arlene Hutton is the author of BLOOD OF THE LAMB, which played at 59E59 this month after winning the Critics Circle Award at the 2024 Adelaide Fringe Festival. ... read full bio
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, 6’6”, is a San Francisco based playwright who writes about misfits, biology, apocalypse, and people struggling against large systems, among other things. ... read full bio
Qui Nguyen (he/him/his) is a playwright, filmmaker, and co-founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys, who are often credited for being the “pioneers of geek theatre.” ... read full bio
Jacquelyn Reingold’s plays have been seen in New York; across the country; in Dublin, Berlin, Belgrade, Lima, Hong Kong. Honors: Lilly Award, Kennedy Center, EST/Sloan Foundation, MacDowell, Yaddo, Hermitage fellowships, Blackburn finalist, New Dramatists’ Joe Callaway Award. ... read full bio
Charly Evon Simpson is a playwright, TV writer, and teacher based in Brooklyn. Her plays include Behind the Sheet, sandblasted, Jump, form of a girl unknown, it’s not a trip it’s a journey, and more. ... read full bio
Phillip Christian Smith (he/him) is a military brat who went to seven different high schools in places as diverse as Ohio, Texas, California, and New Mexico, as well as grammar school in England and Germany. He’s a Fire This Time Festival Playwright ... read full bio
Bryna Turner (they/them) is a Brooklyn-based playwright originally from Northern California. Their play, At the Wedding, had its world premiere in 2022 at LCT3 at Lincoln Center Theater. ... read full bio
Very special thanks to our lead sponsor Jill Hunter Matichak, supporting sponsors Charlotte & David Ackert as well as commission sponsors Customers Bank (Margaret Monigan & Tom Kasulka), Willy Holtzman, Tim Hopkins, Robert Kuchner & Carol Simon, Abbie Van Nostrand, and Tim Torres. Additional commission prompts provided by "Luck of the Draw" winners Elaine Gantz Berman and Robin Lynn & Larry Blumberg.
The Nocturnal Commissions 2024 benefit was performed live at the Fred & Adele Astaire Ballroom at Houghton Hall on October 21, 2024. Video by James Monohan and Henrik Meyer
THE DIRECTORS AND PERFORMERS
October 2024's Nocturnal Commissions features the directing talents of Aneesha Kudtarkar and Robert Ross Parker and starred Marinda Anderson, Sofia Ayral-Hutton, Dana Brooke, Erin Cherry, Cindy Cheung, Jackie Chung, Evan Handler, Naomi Lorrain, Ken Marks, Alfredo Narciso, Marjan Neshat, Jay O. Sanders, Keith Randolph Smith, Andrea Syglowski, and Mary Wiseman.
We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions:
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS
AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS
SAG-AFTRA
through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear in this program.
THE MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES
Performer, CBS Sunday Morning contributor, and ND favorite Nancy Giles!
