The Drama League has announced an expansion to its Directors Project program in 2027. Applications are now open for the program’s 2027 season, which will offer a series of fellowships, residencies and developmental oppportunities to a cohort of early-career directors.
Newly announced, all of the directing residencies offered by the Drama League will provide increased artist stipends and collaborator fees, with additional production personnel. This enhancement applies to three Drama League residencies offered in partnership with the Hubbard Hall Center for the Arts and Education — the Beatrice Terry Residency for women and nonbinary writer-directors, the (Re)Envision Residency for reinterpretations of classical works and the (Re)Engage Residency for returning Drama League alumni — as well as the Next Stage Residency for new play development in partnership with New York Stage and Film.
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Also revealed are the directing mentors who will support recipients of the Irene Gandy Directing Assistantships. For the first time, the participating mentors include two artistic directors: Jaime Castañeda of the Dallas Theater Center and Ben Villegas Randle of San Francisco’s New Conservatory Theatre Center. Castañeda and Randle will take on Drama League assistant directors during productions they helm during the season.
The Drama League has also announced the artists who will be featured in classes, talks and events presented as part of its Workshop Series. Television director Heath Cullens, Tony Award-nominated director Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Tony-nominated director Jamie Lloyd, Emmy Award-nominated writer Tony Phelan and Princess Grace Award-winning opera director Louisa Proske will all participate in this series.
The Drama League has also revealed that it will present its 2027 International Directors Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia, in partnership with the Movement Theatre and the Tbilisi International Theatre Festival.
The FutureNow Fellowships program will continue to support collaborative pairs, selecting a writer and director to develop a new play. But this upcoming year, rather than presenting a workshop, the play will be presented as part of the Chautauqua Theater Company season.
The Television and Film Directing Fellowships will continue to offer shadowing opportunities on network television episodes and production workshops, led by Cullens and Phelan.
Founded in 1916, the Drama League offers creative and career development programs, including the annual Directors Project, to directors worldwide. Programs are supported by the Noël Coward Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, the Sylvia W. and Randle M. Kauders Foundation, the Jolene McCaw Family Foundation, the Shubert Foundation and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. They are also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. Drama League members also provide support for the Directors Project.
