The William S. Yellow Robe Jr. Playwright Residency

Sound Theatre Company is thrilled to be announce our first annual six-month playwright residency program, a mission-critical initiative to develop a new canon of intersectional plays for a changing world. 

Playwrights at any stage of their careers are encouraged to apply for this six month program that will include compensation for writing and research, potential production support for development of a work, mentorship and cultural competency training in a community of interest, and an opportunity to teach a playwriting workshop for writers from historically marginalized communities. 

We are not currently accepting applications

About the Residency:

The resident will receive $10,000 as an independent contractor over a six month period for 10 – 15 hours of work a week, averaging $35 an hour. The expectation is that this residency would be hybrid: both digital and in person. While in residence, the playwright will:

  • DEVELOP NEW WORK: Each resident will develop a new work of interest, through an independently driven process that may include dramaturgy, table reads, and workshops. Both building on prior work or starting entirely anew are welcome.
  • COMPLETE CULTURAL HUMILITY TRAINING: Each playwright will complete training in an area of interest. The goal of deepening cultural humility opens new creative possibilities for artists as well as new experiences for actors and audiences. This training also prepares resident artists to mentor and cultivate new diverse talent in our local community.
  • LEAD A COMMUNITY PLAY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP SERIES: The resident will also lead a workshop for writers in historically marginalized communities to practice the craft of playwriting as a form of expression through dialogue and dramatic structure.
  • PRODUCE ONE MAKING WAVES 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: The above workshop culminates in a publicly presented showcase of student playwrights’ ten-minute plays
  • (OPTIONAL) PRESENT A PUBLIC READING OF NEW WORK

Timeline:

  • Applications due Wednesday July 6 at 11:59 PM PST.
  • Finalists will be invited for an interview via Zoom during the first week of August 5.
  • Selected Playwright will be announced mid-August.
  • Residency contract begins September 1, 2022. Six-month schedule will be established with the resident after acceptance.
  • Residency concludes March 1, 2023.

To Apply:

We are currently not accepting applications. We expect to announce the playwright resident in mid-August. 

Support for the William S. Yellow Robe Jr. Playwright Residency is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Seattle Neighborhood Economic Recovery Fund, and the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation.

Please contact Aimee Chou (media@soundtheatrecompany.org) if you have any questions. Also, please see the FAQs.

    About Sound Theatre Company 

    Sound Theatre Company’s mission is to empower artists to amplify the dignity and diversity of the human experience — moving audiences toward a more just and compassionate world. Founded in 2006, Sound Theatre is newly helmed by a co-artistic director model. We have built a community of 400+ artists and engage 4,000 audiences annually. A four-time Theatre Puget Sound Gregory Award winner for Outstanding Theater of the Year (‘14,’16,’17,‘19), our legacy includes dozens of awards and nominations for excellence in acting, directing, playwriting, design, choreography, and musical theatre production. In 2020, we were nominated for the City of Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award.

    MAKING WAVES started in 2012 as an incubator to develop and share bold, relevant work by Sound Theatre artists. As we adopted a social justice orientation in 2015, MAKING WAVES became an integral part of our mission and work. Even during the pandemic, we flourished by flexibly producing all kinds of work under the MAKING WAVES umbrella, including the feature film Changer: A Hand Telling, our 2021 Fall Festival, and a Disability Justice panel series. 

    About William S. Yellow Robe Jr. 

    The program is named after the late award-winning playwright William S. Yellow Robe Jr. (Assiniboine). A fierce advocate for Native and Indigenous playwrights, his work often integrated his mixed Native and Black ancestry and, late in his career, a disability lens. His accolades include the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award and the posthumous New York Community Trust Helen Merril Award for Playwriting (2021).