Theater News

Anna Deavere Smith, Sarah Ruhl, and More to Have Residencies at Signature Theatre

Samuel D. Hunter, Lauren Yee, and the Mad Ones also join the lineup.

Bethany Rickwald
Broadway New York City
Anna Deavere Smith joins Signature Theatre's Residency Program.
Anna Deavere Smith joins Signature Theatre's Residency Program.

Four award-winning playwrights and one theater collective will join the residency programs at Signature Theatre, the company announced today.

Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (In the Next Room, or the vibrator play) and Tony Award nominee and National Humanities Medal recipient Anna Deavere Smith (Notes From the Field) will join Signature's Residency 1 program, which is a yearlong intensive exploration of a writer's body of work.

Drama Desk Award winner Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale), Drama Desk nominees and Innovative Theatre Award winners the Mad Ones (Miles for Mary), and Horton Foote Prize winner Lauren Yee (The Great Leap) will also join Signature's Residency 5 program, which guarantees playwrights three premieres over five years. Hunter, the Mad Ones, and Yee will join current Residency 5 playwrights Annie Baker, Martha Clarke, Katori Hall, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dave Malloy, and Dominique Morisseau.

Titles, dates, and creative teams will be announced at a later date.