#newplays

From Marcus Scott:

They say a “near miss” is just the universe’s way of saying your trajectory is correct, you just haven’t hit the target yet.

Deeply honored to be named a 2026 Blue Ink Award Semifinalist for my play “Vinyl Vanguard.” What’s wild? I submitted an older draft and it still climbed into the top tier of over 1,400 submissions.

This marks my 4th year in a row being recognized by American Blues Theater (@american_blues_theater):

Huge congratulations to Nia Akilah Robinson (@niaakilah__) for taking the top prize; I can’t wait to see what that inventive work does! Sending love to the featured finalists, finalists and my fellow semifinalists, especially @criseliblak, @ginafemia, @kaelameishing, @gloria_majule, @sharmajasmine, @scottcsickles, @phillipchristiansmith, @caridadsvich, @montserratmendez, @nicholaspilapil, and @nyungerberg.

I’ll be honest: I’m currently the King of the Near Miss. It’s a season of “almosts.” But in this house, we take “not now” as fuel for “what’s next.” I am a very stubborn, persistent, determined and relentless bastard. If the American Theatre doesn’t know what to do with me yet, they better figure it out fast. Next time I apply, I’m not just a name on a list—I’m a featured finalist. They have no idea what’s coming! Buckle up.

Congratulations to Nia Akilah Robinson, winner of the 2026 Blue Ink Award for Overnight at the Museum.

As part of the award, Robinson receives a $3,000 cash prize and an opportunity to further develop her script as part of the 2026 Blue Ink Playwriting Festival, along with new work by finalists Benjamin Benne (and thou shalt be healed), and Claire Crowley (The Scouts of America Don’t Sell Cookies, B*tch).

2026 Blue Ink Award winner Nia Akilah Robinson notes, “My mother and my father created a household for any and all conversations regarding Black history were welcomed, debated, and celebrated. My mother always taught me to dig deeper into Black history, and my father taught me to find (if it was possible) the humor within it. I love museums and galleries, and there’s so much more to say about them; To Maboula Soumahoro – thank you for your classroom. This award is a great honor, thank you American Blues Theater.”

“We’re thrilled to name Nia Akilah Robinson’s play Overnight at the Museum as the 2026 Blue Ink Award for playwriting. Nia’s essential script about the repatriation of artifacts to Ghana brilliantly balances the poignant and timely theme on a sharp comic edge. We’re excited to present the staged reading to Chicago audiences as part of our Blue Ink Playwriting Festival,” comments Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside.

About Overnight at the Museum

Two Black men who work as night guards for museum security are stealing Ghanaian artifacts from a gentrified American neighborhood. Can they get them where they need to be before the grand opening of a “Neo-African Museum”? Overnight at the Museum is a hilarious heist story that masterfully toys with our definitions of history, legacy, and art.

About Nia Akilah Robinson

Nia Akilah Robinson (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. Productions: Soho Rep U.S. Off Broadway Premiere (2025 New York Times Critics Pick), NextStop Theatre (2026 Helen Hayes Recommended), Co-Pro: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company & Company One Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Theatre503, Theatre Exile, and The Hearth. Her work has been seen and developed with Nashville Repertory Theatre (Ingram New Works Project), Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Group, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Waterwell, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Urbanite, and New Georges. Nia has been a MacDowell Fellow, Travis Bogard Eugene O’Neill Foundation Fellow, and a writer for PEN America and EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (short play). She has had residencies at NYSAF and The Pocantico Center through YoungArts. Nia’s work has been featured at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Fire This Time Festival, and the 48th Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Nia has been awarded 1st Place for the 2023 A is For Playwriting Contest, the Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Writing Scholarship, a Miranda Family Fund Commission, and the NYSCA Grant (CCCADI). She was shortlisted for the 2023 Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award. And Nia is a member or alumna of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, I-73 at Page 73, The Orchard Project NYC Greenhouse, The Wish Collective, and TheBlackHERthePen. Education: Yale (DGSD- MFA Playwriting Candidate) & Juilliard (Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program).

2026 Blue Ink Award Finalists & Semifinalists

Featured Finalists: Benjamin Benne (and thou shalt be healed) & Claire Crowley (The Scouts of America Don’t Sell Cookies, B*tch).

Finalists: Cris Eli Blak (Sing For Me), Ida Cuttler (Moe is a Dick), Alexa Derman (Zionista Rising), Annalisa Dias (The Invention of Seeds), Yussef El Guindi (Slay), Gina Femia (That Time Terri and Lily Took a Road Trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder House), Sarah Galante (Body Negative ), Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (Ping Pong Play), Robin Goldberg (Ask Three Times), Idris Goodwin (Scarfoot Lives), Drew Larimore (A Place No One Can See), Victor Lesniewski (Virōdha), Gloria Majule (Possessed (or, “the Crazy African Girl” Play)), Nick Malakhow (Straw Poll), Bella Poynton (The Appliance Department), Marco Antonio Rodriguez (Walk-In), Jasmine Sharma (PEACHY: a sorta chekhovian traumedy), Scott C. Sickles (The Battlements), Phillip Christian Smith (God Save The Queen), Caridad Svich (War Painting), Collin Van Son (Two-Man Rule), LaDarrion Williams (Secondhand Lessons), Sharifa Yazmeen (Fairy Dust).

Readings shape plays #theatre #playwright #playwriting #theatercollective #theatrecollective

First Zoom Meeting of Our Players Top (l-r) Gifford Elliott [Director], T.J. Elliott [Playwright], Jeremiah Alexander [Clint] Bottom (l-r) Kat Reeve [Pippa], Jasmine Dorothy Haefner [Z], Daniel Thompson [Rory] And so it begins: fine actors working with an astute director starting the transformation of text to performance, figuring out how to make theater live. The Hilton Als quote about…

New Website Look for Permanent Mission of KWT: Make Theater Live! Thanks, Gifford Elliott! #theater

Captive Audiences 1982: (L-R) Beth Rake, Phil Ruskin, Brendan Elliott, John McCarthy, & Georgia Harrell. Rem tene; verba sequentur.Grasp the subject, the words will follow.Cato the Elder Cato the Elder, whose other notable quote is ‘Delenda est Carthago ‘or ‘Carthage must be destroyed!’, gives good advice for playwrights here: nail the story from spine to skeleton to full body and the dialogue…

We’ve been fortunate enough to have the pleasure of Darryl Reilly reviewing 3 of our Knowledge Workings Theater productions and we are grateful for his considerate criticism of HONOR that you can read in full at this link And then this morning we discovered that Time Out magazine has a featured listing for our play. The good news for us is that more people will learn about the opportunity to see…

T.J. Elliott SHORT(ISH) VERSION Read the detail below but click here to Sign up for a discussion on Playwright Self-Producing taking place 8:30 PM Wednesday September 26th after the 7PM performance of HONOR at 24 Bond Street at the Gene Frankel Theatre in Manhattan. There is absolutely NO requirement or expectation that prospective attendees of the session will attend the play beforehand.…