The Drama League

New Ohio Hosts

DirectorFest is the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing. For its 36th year, the festival will include six fully-staged productions, a showcase concert of a new musical, a town hall, and conversations with leading directors in the field.

Taking place over five weeks in venues across Manhattan, highlights of the festival at the New Ohio include all-new stagings of Michael John LaChiusa’s Hello Again and Harold Pinter’s The Lover, and revivals of rarely-seen works by Tina Howe (Appearances) and Marcus Gardley (The Sporting Life of Icarus Jones).

Chosen last spring from over 400 applicants, the directors leading the festival’s new productions this year — NJ Agwuna, Chika Ike, Rebecca Marzalek-Kelly, Lindsey Hope Pearlman, Ben Randle, Hannah Ryan, and Christian Bakalov — recently completed their development programs as part of The Drama League Directors Project.

As the leading career development organization for emerging and mid-career theater directors, the Drama League offers hands-on instruction, mentorship, opportunities to create new theater, and work experience with established professionals. We identify talented directors through a rigorous, national selection process with outside theater luminaries and provide them with the skills, experiences, and contacts they need to bridge the gap between training and professional success. The high cost of theater productions deter most artistic leaders from risking the success of their productions on early and mid-career directors. Since 1984, the Drama League has set out to take on those risks by allowing directors to explore and create alongside their collaborators, providing its participants with the necessary professional experience to further advance their careers.