The inaugural cohort members of the Cherry Lane Playwrights Collective have been revealed. The acclaimed Off-Broadway theatre is teaming up with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker to support new work through the nine-month developmental program.
The six playwrights in the inaugural group are Hannah Applebaum, Jeesun Choi, Banna Desta, Jimmy Fay, Onyekachi Iwu, and Maureen Sebastian.
Starting September 13, the writers will meet over 10 Sunday evenings at Cherry Lane, culminating in a series of individual readings from the cohort. Operating under the Cherry Lane Development Group with Baker’s direction, all writers will retain full ownership of work developed in the program.
The collaboration between Baker and Cherry Lane honors the theatre’s celebrated history of fostering up-and-coming NYC playwrights. As the city’s oldest Off-Broadway theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre has hosted early and experimental works from artists including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eugene O’Neill, Samuel Beckett, Pablo Picasso, T. S. Eliot, Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, and many more.
Baker is a Pulitzer winner for her 2013 play The Flick. She wrote and directed Janet Planet for the screen in 2023 with A24, Cherry Lane’s parent company.
For more information, visit CherryLaneTheatre.org.