About Us

Todd London (Artistic Director) In 2009 Todd became the first recipient of Theatre Communications Group’s (TCG) Visionary Leadership Award, for “an individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to advance the theatre field as a whole, nationally and/or internationally.” He is beginning his sixteenth season as artistic director of New Dramatists, where he has worked closely with more than a hundred of America’s leading playwrights and advocated nationally and internationally for hundreds more. 2010 saw the publication of his book, Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play (written with Ben Pesner), the product of a five-year study he led for Theatre Development Fund about new play production in America and the lives and livelihoods of playwrights. That year, he traveled across the country to lead meetings in 10 cities, intended to address the study’s findings and encourage a more vital environment for new work. A former Managing Editor of American Theatre magazine and the author of The Artistic Home, published by TCG, he has written, edited, and/or contributed to over a dozen books. His new book, An Ideal Theatre, an anthology of founding visions for American theatres that Todd collected, edited and introduced, is due out in spring 2012 (TCG). A series of his tributes to contemporary theatre writers, “A Lover’s Guide to American Playwrights” appears on howlround.com. Todd’s particular brand of advocacy journalism has focused on both the lives and livelihoods of individual artists and on the not-for-profit theatre movement, especially the impact of institutionalization on the field. His essays and articles have been translated for publication in Russia, North and South Africa, Scandinavia, Serbia, and Romania. Todd is a frequent featured speaker at conferences, universities and theatres. This summer he delivered keynote addresses at the Chicago Theatre Symposium, the Dramatists Guild of America’s first national conference, and TCG’s 50th anniversary national conference. He has won the prestigious George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism for his essays in American Theatre and a Milestone Award for his first novel, The World’s Room, published by Steerforth Press. In 2001 he accepted a special Tony® Honor on behalf of New Dramatists, and in 2005 he represented New Dramatists at the Obie Awards, where the organization was honored with the Ross Wetzsteon Award for excellence. Todd has taught at Harvard and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and currently serves on the faculty of Yale School of Drama. He’s a past Literary Director of the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard and Associate Artistic Director of CSC Rep off Broadway and New Playwrights Theatre in Washington, D.C. He has two sons, Guthrie and Grisha, and is married to playwright and ND alumna Karen Hartman.

Joel K. Ruark (Executive Director) led the staff of New Dramatists from 1989 through 1992. He returned as Executive Director in 2000. Ruark served as Managing Director of the theatre division of Wind Dancer Production Group. He also helped to establish and served as the Chief Financial Officer for Praxis Housing Initiatives, a nonprofit housing development agency serving the homeless and people with AIDS. Ruark previously held positions as Development Director of the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ, General Manager of the Lambs Theatre in New York City and Literary Manager of the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. He has worked in a variety of positions at professional companies including the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, the Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Philadelphia Festival Theatre. A graduate of Ohio University, Joel began his theatrical career as a literary management intern at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Emily Morse (Director of Artistic Development) is a multi-faceted theatre artist in her tenth year at New Dramatists as the Director of Artistic Development. She has served as dramaturg on workshops and productions at The Philadelphia Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, New York Theatre Workshop, the Wilma, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, JAW/West Festival, Ripe Time, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Culture Project/Women Center Stage, PlayPenn, 13P and the Drama League New Directors/New Works. Her directing work and 10-minute plays have been seen in a variety of venues in New York City and regionally. She has also held administrative positions with Ping Chong and Company, Lema Productions, Creative Time, and LMDA. Workshops in which she's participated include Choreography for Directors with Annie-B Parson, Butoh with Dawn Akemi Saito, Viewpoints with J. Ed Araiza, Critical Response, and Movement and Stage Composition, respectively, with Liz Lerman, playwriting with Eduardo Machado, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Karen Hartman, and BIG Artist workshop with Chris Wells and Karen Hartman. She's studied various forms of dance including Swing, Argentine Tango, and Flamenco. She was the dramaturg/co-adaptor of Innocents, Ripe Time's iteration of The House of Mirth, produced at the Ohio in 2005. Other Ripe Time collaborations: The Secret of Steep Ravines by Barbara Wiechmann, and The Holy Mother of Hadley New York by Barbara Wiechmann, commissioned and co-produced with New Georges. With Rachel Dickstein, she co-curates ShapeShifting, an annual salon series that explores the art and craft of adaptation and how works from the past can create a bridge to politics or cultural issues of our time. She also had the pleasure of working with Carol Gilligan, and Jonathan Gilligan on an adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. She has been a guest at the Baldwin Festival of New Work at UCSD, Sewanee Writers' Conference, Writing is Live Festival at Brown University, and New Works Festival at UT-Austin. She graduated from Temple University and is a member of New Georges' Kitchen Cabinet and LMDA; a LCT's Directors Lab alumna, NYTW Usual Suspect, and a Board Member of The Talking Band. In May 2010, Emily was honored with a Lilly Award for Dramaturgy and Advocacy.

Christie Brown (Director of Development) Christie is honored to return to New Dramatists as its chief development officer. During her previous tenure at the organization (1999 – 2002), she served as its Literary Director and later, its Director of Development. For the past five years she’s served as the Associate Director of Development for the University of Maryland’s College of Arts and Humanities, where she’s proud to have helped the College exceed its $40 million campaign goal by over 30%. Prior to the University of Maryland, she was the Associate Director of Development for Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, during that organization’s successful capital campaign to construct a dynamic new public arts building. For three years, she assisted literary agents at ICM, in both the New York and Los Angeles offices. She began her career at Arena Stage, first as a literary intern and then as Literary Associate and Production Dramaturg. Recent freelance and volunteer work includes dramaturgy assignments with Theater J, the Kennedy Center and Catholic University, and guest lectures in literary management and fundraising for Catholic University undergraduate and graduate classes. She serves on the advisory board for the Neurotherapy Research and Development Association in Bethesda, MD. She holds a B.A. from Juniata College (theatre/history); in 2010 she earned a 2nd bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of Maryland – University College.

Morgan Allen (Director of Finance & New Media) is in his sixth season on the staff of New Dramatists. He is responsible for organizational oversight of financial matters, aiding the Executive Director in preparing, planning and implementing budgeting and expense management, benefits administration and financial reporting. He coordinates the annual Spring Luncheon fundraiser and assists in facility management, including oversight of construction and maintenance projects. He recently led the development of New Dramatists’ new website and provides leadership, crafts strategy, and devises policies for effective Web-based communications, with an emphasis on using new media to build and sustain relationships between New Dramatists and key audiences. Indulging his varied interests he has held a number of jobs throughout the theater, both artistic and administrative, including serving on the staff of Playbill.com as Photo Editor/Editorial Assistant for three years before joining New Dramatists. He has worked in New York City with La MaMa e.t.c., New Georges, National Asian American Theatre Company, Prospect Theater Company, Vital Theatre Company and Theater Without Borders. He produced the world premiere of ND alum Catherine Filloux’s Killing the Boss (Cherry Lane Theatre) and the US premiere of her play, Lemkin’s House, with Body Politic Theater. As a playwright, he is the co-author with Mitch Montgomery of Triumph of the Underdog, which was produced during the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival. His short play, Leap, was featured as part of Prospect’s Dark Nights Series in April 2006. He lives in Upper Manhattan with his wife Heather, a financial accountant at Galbraith & Company, and three-year old daughter Avery. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Erin Detrick (Artistic Programs Administrator) is in her fourth season at New Dramatists and first had the pleasure of working with the organization as an intern in 2003. Previously, she was the Publications Director for Playscripts, Inc., where she managed the submissions and editorial processes, and, with Keen Company, helmed the first two seasons of Keen Teens, a program in which professional playwrights develop and write one-act plays for production with area high school students in a professional Off-Broadway setting. With Playscripts, she co-edited Funny, Strange, Provocative: Seven Plays from Clubbed Thumb and three monologue collections. Her adaptation of The Wizard of Oz is published by Playscripts. As a dramaturg, Erin’s freelance credits include work with Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Public Theatre, the 24Seven Lab, Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, and a variety of workshop productions. She also dramaturged a wide range of projects during literary internships at Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She is a graduate of Otterbein College.

Connie Hall (Grants Administrator) joined the staff of New Dramatists in July of 2009. Her last position was as a development associate at Theatre Communications Group, where she spent four years raising money for the national not-for-profit theatre sector. As an independent performer and producer, Connie has helped to create and mount numerous new plays in New York and abroad. She is currently the producing director of Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant, and she has been a contributing writer-performer with several ensemble-based theater companies including Knife, Inc., Saga Theatre, SaBooge, and International WOW Company.  She holds an MFA from Columbia University.

Ron Riley (Director of Operations) has worked in administrative and IT capacities for EST, The Foundry Theatre, New Georges, Playwrights Horizons and Borough of Manhattan Community College. A professional actor & musician, Ron is a member of Café Antarsia Ensemble with Ruth Margraff, Nikos Brisco and Rami el Aassar. The group released their debut CD, Songs of the Table, on Innova Records in 2007, have recorded their second CD, Land of the Great, Horses in Austin,TX, and has toured internationally. Ron has also appeared in New Dramatists alum productions including Carlyle Brown’s play, Pure Confidence, at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival; The New York Fringe Festival's production of Portrait of a President by Herman Daniel Farrell III; Keli Garrett's Uppa Creek, directed by Dominic Taylor at Dixon Place; Keith Glover's Dark Paradise at Cincinnati Playhouse; the OBIE Award-winning Off Broadway revival production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson at the New Federal Theatre; They Still Mambo In Havana at The Flea and Partial Complex Seizure, written and directed by Rogelio Martinez at the Playwrights' Collective; Christopher Columbus by Nikos Kazantdakis, directed by Lloyd Richards at the New Federal Theatre; Crocodile Eyes written and directed by Eduardo Machado at Theatre for the New City; and Soho Rep’s production of Skin by Naomi Iizuka. A veteran of "many dusty, downtown productions,” he is a 1991 graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he received a B.F.A. with Honors and a 1991 Founders Award.

Cara Scarmack (Manager of Individual Giving & Special Events) is entering her fifth season at New Dramatists. Previously, she was the Assistant Manager of the Annual Fund at Signature Theatre Company. She has also worked with the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Los Angeles. In addition to her role at New Dramatists, Cara has had the great fortune to direct her own work with the theatre ensemble, The Roadsters, of which she is a member. Her directing work has been shown in venues including The Kitchen, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop 4th Street Theatre, a site-specific warehouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn, the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, and the Brecht Forum. Together with mandolin player, Kate Prascher, she sings and plays guitar in their bluegrass duo the Wildwood Sisters. She is a graduate of Denison University and has also studied with The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, the LaMaMa International Symposium for Directors, and Odin Teatret. She is a member of The Field’s Sponsored Artist Program and an Affiliate Artist of New Georges. Cara has an online presence at carascarmack.com.

John Steber (Director of the Playwrights’ Lab) is in his eighth season at New Dramatists where he has overseen the presentation and casting of over 600 readings and workshops. In New York, he has directed at HERE, The Working Theatre, HB Playwrights Foundation, EST, New Perspectives, The West Bank, Alice’s Fourth Floor, The Present Company, and Metro Playhouse, among others. He has directed staged readings for Playwrights’ Horizons and New York Theatre Workshop, and was a member of the 1996 and 1999 Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab. Additionally, he has directed for The Passage Theatre, The Garage Theatre Group, and 12 Miles West in his home state of New Jersey. He also directed Arthur Miller’s After the  Fall for the Daylesford Theatre at BMDS, Bermuda. From 1995 - 2001 John served as a director/dramaturg for the Shenandoah International Playwrights Retreat in Staunton, VA. John began his career as an actor, appearing Off Broadway at INTAR, Westside Arts, EST, etc. and internationally at the Theatre Des Westens, Berlin (Porgy and Bess), as well as in TV shows and commercials.