The Seven Devils Playwrights Conference has developed more than 250 new plays, by Pulitzer Prize-winners, emerging writers, high school students and everything in between, through a variety of programs aimed at supporting and empowering playwrights to do their best work free from the pressures and concerns of full production.More than 50% of those plays have gone on to full production on Broadway and at venues around the country including: The Humana Festival/Actors Theater of Louisville, Roundabout Theatre, Denver Center, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Barrington Stage Company, Chicago’s Gift Theater, Kitchen Theater, Montana Rep and Boise Contemporary Theater, among many others. 

 

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic required the conference to move online (see more in this American Theatre article). Because of this, I collaborated with Tony Award nominated designer Skip Mercier to test virtual backgrounds and work with playwrights virtually as the Francis Starr Todd Design Fellow. As the design fellow, my job was to help writers as they further developed new works, providing a different perspective and using design meetings to engage the physical world of the play - much like the process Skip developed in his years with the O'Neill Theater Center. After these meetings, I produced sketches and tonal/research collages based off of our conversations.

 

Skip and I co-led virtual design meetings for YOU WILL GET SICK by Noah Diaz, THE KILLING FIELDS by Anya Pearson, and THE ALLIGATOR GOSPELS by Matt Pelfrey. Independently, I led the virtual design meetings for MADAM EUPHORIA REVEALS YOUR FUTURE by Jenny Sternling, THE BIRTH OF THE PILL by Jessica Huang, and THE HERO AND THE SCHOLAR by Marshall Botvinick.