Studio Theatre is proud to be an artistic home for thoughtful storytelling, new work, and innovative artists. We strive to support the future of contemporary theatre by:
commissioning playwrights through our new work incubator Studio R&D
training the next generation of theatre professionals through our Apprentice Program
offering artists a revolutionary flexible performance space in our newly renovated Victor Shargai theatre.
These initiatives wouldn’t be possible without your help. Your gift ensures Studio can continue to provide artists with the resources to contribute to the cultural landscape of contemporary American theatre.
Sivan Battat made their Studio directorial debut this fall with the production of James Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning. Sivan is a former artistic apprentice and also worked with David as his associate director for King Charles III at ACT, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Shakespeare Theatre here in DC. After their apprenticeship, Sivan’s professional directing career began when they assistant directed Animal in New York City with Gaye Taylor Upchurch, whom they met during their apprenticeship.
Through the training they received here at Studio, Sivan has gone on to have a successful directing career that will only continue to grow. “The apprenticeship introduced me to myself as a professional director, while introducing me to the industry as an artist to watch,” Sivan says.
Kimberly Belflower is a Studio R&D commissioned playwright. This past spring, Studio produced the world premiere of her play John Proctor is the Villain, the most successful world premiere in Studio's history. She is currently hard at work on her Studio-commissioned play Saint Pigtail. “I am so excited to continue my work at Studio,” she says. “It’s a place I want to have as an artistic home.”
Reflecting upon her collaboration with Studio, Kimberly says:
“David personally called me to say, ‘We want to invest in you as an artist, in your future, and in this future relationship.’ I’ve never been treated that caringly by a theatre. It showed me they actually walk the walk in how they treat their artists.”
Studio fosters new work and new voices like Kimberly with commissions through our new work incubator Studio R&D. This program helps artists develop new work through readings, workshops, residencies, commissions, and world premieres. Since 2011, we have commissioned 20 artists and premiered 14 new plays. In 2019, we launched Work in Process, a public reading series of plays currently under commission by Studio.
James Ijames is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, and in May we will produce the DC premiere of his Studio-commissioned play, Good Bones. During his commission residency, James toured Studio’s Logan Circle neighborhood, which has undergone gentrification over its 40-year history. He was inspired to write a play that feels like a ghost story, where the ghosts are really the people who get displaced, and a story that fits in Studio’s intimate spaces.
In January 2020, James worked with many artists, including Good Bones director Psalmayene 24, during a weeklong workshop at Studio to draft and rewrite the play. Reflecting on that week, Psalm says, “It was evident to everyone in the room that we were working with a playwright at the peak of his powers. I can’t wait for Studio’s audience to experience this fantastic new play by one of America’s best living playwrights.”
Duncan Macmillan is an award-winning playwright and director. In 2011, Studio produced the world premiere of his play Lungs, which has now been performed around the world. He has also co-adapted a script of George Orwell’s 1984 for a Broadway production, and he is currently working on adapting a script for a stage production of Game of Thrones.
Through December 11, Studio is producing his play People, Places & Things in the newly renovated Victor Shargai Theatre. The Shargai provides space for alley staging and colorful projections that fully immerse the audience in the story.
“Even when I was an unknown writer, with an untested play, David treated me like a proper playwright. He took a big risk on staging Lungs. Studio is the company that gave it that first push. I owe David and this theatre a lot of gratitude.”
Learn more about Studio’s current production of People, Places & Things