New Play Development
Overview: Founded in 2020, The Strides Collective produces and develops theatrical work by emerging playwrights that embraces the queer experience through authentic, modern, and innovative storytelling. Our work prioritizes the goal of normalizing the conversation about queer identity, creating a safe haven in which emerging artists can tell their stories without fear of judgment.
Since our inception, we have fully produced three world premiere queer plays at venues across Philadelphia, including Arden Theatre Company’s Studio Theatre and The Christ Church Neighborhood House. Additionally, each season we focus on new play development through readings, workshops, and cohorts for emerging playwrights. Playwrights who have partnered with Strides have gone on to work with such places as New York University, The Kennedy Center, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College, and Primary Stages.
New Strides
In June of 2024, the Strides Collective kicked off Pride Month with its inaugural new play festival. It was designed to celebrate local, queer theatre and foster community within the web of Philadelphia’s queer artists. Starting from absolute scratch, this generative program spanned two months and tasked three local playwrights to create original one-act plays in a Paula Vogel Bake Off-style exercise. Certain elements and themes had to be included within their plays, but the rest was up to them. New Strides also featured Philadelphia-based directors and actors who presented these new works to the public in a staged reading.
2024 Playwrights
Ally Duvak – Philly Special // Noah Mannix – 3 Women // Amir-Gabriel Gad – Rub a Dub Dub
Workshops
Workshops are intended to provide support to artists with plays still in development. Rather than working with the intent of creating a finalized product, the goal of these workshops is to develop and collaborate on in-progress works by emerging writers in a safe, inclusive, and like-minded space. Playwrights are allotted 25 hours of rehearsal time to discuss, edit, and hear their scripts. Playwrights are provided a director, cast, rehearsal space, and administrative support in order to flesh out their play.
Fall 2021 Virtual Workshops
Each of our three playwrights received our assistance for a full month in the fall of 2021. This process took place 100% virtually from October to December.
FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS:
OCTOBER: Jonathan Edmondson – the pigeon.
NOVEMBER: SMJ – Stacy & Mia
DECEMBER: Jasmin Casiano – The Bus Stop
Staged Readings
Staged readings are ticketed live events of new plays utilizing a full cast, light blocking, and music stands. These plays may have already been workshopped and are a little further along in the developmental process. Ready for an audience but not quite ready for production, staged readings allow playwrights to present their work in a safe environment and gather feedback as they get their script production ready.
Bogfriends – June 2023
On June 13th, 2023 The Strides Collective presented a one-night-only staged reading of bogfriends by jose sebastian alberdi at the MAAS Building for Pride Month before the play made its way to the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.
Commission
The Collective launched its first search for an inaugural commission in January 2025. As we seek to expand the theatrical canon of great, modern queer stories from queer playwrights, we are launching this commission to support the entire development process of a play, from idea inception to completed draft of a full-length script.
Emerging Playwrights Program
From 2021 to 2023 The Strides Collective sought out and worked with multiple playwrights yearly to create an Emerging Playwrights Program (EPP) Cohort. The EPP paired with queer, emerging playwrights with dramaturgs in a remote play development opportunity that concluded in a live, in-person reading of playwrights’ work as part of our ongoing commitment to serving and providing a safe and productive environment for queer theatre-makers.
It was a highly collaborative developmental process that fostered the formation of artistic communities and provided the space, support, and structure for plays to develop.
2023 Cohort
FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS:
ANDREW BEAL – The Launch, or What is Znord
XAVIER CLARK – supper.
DOM MARTELLO – But I’ll Die Trying
SARAH STRYKER – Making It
2022 Cohort
FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS:
JUSTIN CLAREL – i’m sorry for all the things i said when i thought i was straight
EMILY MOYLAN – See You Next Week
DEZI TIBBS – FINE
WILL VENCE JR. – Masculine Evil
2021 Cohort
FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS:
ANG BEY (RAYNE) — Twenty-Six
NATHANIEL FOSTER — Don’t Laugh. It’s Funny
MATTHEW SIEVERS — Deep Space
Three actors reading scripts from music stands. Projection screen behind them reads "See You Next Week by Emily Moylan."