Artist Talk with Stephen Brown

ALLIANCE THEATRE PODCAST: AN EXPLORATION OF THEATER AND THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

The Alliance/Kendeda Playwright Competition has put new talent to the forefront of regional theater for over ten years. With The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd, playwright Stephen Brown claimed the title as our 22/23 winner. On this episode we sit down with Stephen to discuss his inspiration for this story and why the Alliance/Kendeda competition is an important tool and a necessary space for young playwrights. 

Stephen Brown (Playwright) is currently a fellow at The Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. His play The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd won the Alliance/Kendeda Playwriting Competition Award and is currently under option to be adapted into a film. His play Everything Is Super Great was produced at 59E59 Theaters by New Light Theatre Project where it was a TimeOut NY Critic’s Pick. His other work has been developed and received readings by Primary Stages, MCC, Page 73, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Road Theatre, Barter Theatre, Theatre Lab, and the Aurora Theatre. He’s been a Finalist for the Play Penn Conference, Seven Devil's Playwrights Conference, the Blue Ink Award, the Neukom Prize, The Aurand Harris Award, and the Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm. He was a member of Youngblood at EST, Page 73’s playwriting group I-73 and has had residencies with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and SPACE on Ryder Farm. He’s currently developing a TV show based on his pilot Barbara. 

Amanda Watkins serves as an associate producer at the Alliance Theatre. Prior to this position, she was the general manager of Broadway Dreams, a nonprofit devoted to the mentoring and training of young adults in the theatre arts.  Amanda served as EVP of Production and Development at The Araca Group in NYC where she shepherded the development of dozens of new plays and musicals. She was the executive producer on Broadway’s Tony Award-nominated Disgraced, the winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Ayad Akhtar as well as the 2010 Tony Award-nominated revival of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, directed by Stanley Tucci. Amanda was an actor on Broadway and throughout the regions for 15 years. She is a member of The Broadway League and in 2004, she was recognized by the State of Georgia House of Representatives with a certificate of excellence in theatre. She holds a B.F.A. from FSU and an M.A. from NYU.  

Learn more about The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd and get tickets.

Learn more about Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition.

Learn more about the Alliance Theatre Podcast.