#newplays

Whew. Well that was a year. I just finished my first year of grad school in the MFA directing program at Brooklyn College. It was very exciting and extremely useful, but also very busy. Here’s a quick recap of all the projects I did in and out of school since last fall, as well as a few upcoming projects to check out:

The New Margo

(From L: Aimee Kibbe, Angela Katherine, Rachel Fink, Emily Winter, Mariah Sanchez, Photo: Matt Deinhart)

For the end of our first year, each of the three directors chose a one act to direct. I picked The New Margo by Stephen Gregg. It was a Hitchcockian thriller about 5 college roommates, assumed identities, gas-lighting, and more. My actresses were absolutely fierce and handled the stage combat portion with aplomb.

Crashing

You can catch me making my HBO debut on Crashing, Season 2 Ep 7: NACA. Crashing follows the journey of stand-up comedian Pete Holmes as his character tries to make it in the comedy world. I was hired as a balloon artist by the art department and spent the day making all the balloon creatures you see in the episode as well as making a few cameos throughout the episode.

It’s Getting Tired Mildred

Yes that’s right, my journey playing Lacy Verdon, the co-owner of The Hideaway in the neighboring Mildred Falls and resident coke dealer for the upstanding citizens of Mildred Springs, as part of the monthly late night 80′s soap opera for the stage, It’s Getting Tired Mildred, created by Roger Nasser, has continued. Season 4 just wrapped this past week with a few exciting cliff-hangers, but Season 5 will pick back up in September.

The Dysfunctional Swingers

We performed in another Midnight Radio Show Cabaret this January and have returned to Governors Island for the summer as part of The Dysfunctional Collective. We are excited to be hosting 2 swing dances out there, thanks to Governors Island’s new late Fridays. Our first dance is on the 29th and we would love to see you there. Follow us on our facebook page for more information.

The Bring A Weasel and A Pint of Your Own Blood Playwright Festival

For one night only, Everyday Inferno Theatre Company presents Nora Sørena Casey’s Dreams of Malinche, a new play about broken friendship, broken families, and Hernan Cortez’ legendary mistress.

Friday, March 10th at 7:30 PM South Oxford Space, The Great Room 138 S Oxford St Brooklyn, NY 11217 Space is limited, reserve your free seats

Hey there,

My name is Todd Backus and I mostly work in new play development. In fact, I met the fine ladies of Everday Inferno when I participated in their Developmental Lab last year. After the lab was over I got an email asking for recommendations for plays to workshop and I immediately thought of Nora Sørena Casey’s Dreams of Malinche.

Nora and I have been collaborators for years. She’s a playwright that uses this incredibly natural mix of the poetic and the everyday to tell incredible stories about ordinary people working to get by. When she first showed me Dreams of Malinche I knew it was something that had to be seen. It, like many of Nora’s plays, is epic in scope and also deeply personal. It tells this beautiful, heartbreaking story of high school friends realizing how different their lives are and will be and it’s juxtaposed with this rarely told story of Mexican history, or, as Emily says, “before America was America.” It’s an excellent story whose immensity was frightening and thrilling at the same time.

I was ecstatic when Everyday Inferno asked for project pitches because I was certain they would be a good fit for the play. I felt that Everday Inferno would be able to give the show what it needed: a strong, diverse, female creative team and time and space to play and grow. I’ve been cheering from the sidelines this whole project through and I’m over the moon about the upcoming reading and I can’t wait to read the latest draft that comes from this beautiful collaboration between artists I know and love.

Enjoy the show! -Todd

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).