Group of five women on stage, four seated and one standing, in a discussion or performance setting.

meet the playwright

Where Process Meets Performance 

Event details

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

November 20, 2025: Desi Moreno-Penson
December 18, 2025: Dezi Bing
January 29, 2026: Margot Carmody
February 26, 2026: Camille Simon Thomas

Jamaica Arts Center
161-04 Jamaica Ave

Jamaica, NY 11432
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Free admission

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New Plays, Powerful Perspectives

Meet the Playwright looks at making theater through performances and post-show conversations. Queens-based BIIPOC playwrights are chosen by paid peer jury via open call for new scripts and receive $2,000 to hire a creative team to present semi-staged excerpts of their work to the public. 

Audience meet the playwright in multiple ways. Before the show, playwrights post a video essay on the play. After the show, Program Manager Iyvon Edebiri and JCAL Executive Director Leonard Jacobs lead talkbacks on the political, social, and cultural forces of the play. Post-show receptions offer space to continue the dialogue and build community. 

Meet the Playwright runs monthly, November to February. Performances are at 8pm. Tickets are free. 

JCAL gratefully acknowledges public support from NY City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (Speaker’s Initiative), NY City Council Member Nantasha Williams, and the Council’s Cultural Immigrant Initiative. 

JCAL gratefully acknowledges operating support from the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Matisse Foundation, Altman Foundation, and MacMillan Foundation. 

Three women practicing music, one woman is sitting with a music stand, and two women are sitting on chairs with music stands, one of them appears to be a conductor or director, in a dark room with stage lighting.
An elderly woman with gray hair speaking on a stage with two young women standing in the background. The stage has chairs, music stands, and a small table with a flower arrangement.

JCAL’s Meet the Playwright series is back!

Join us at Jamaica Arts Center for a peek into the creative process

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  • "For the amazing BIIPOC playwrights of Queens, JCAL is a workshop space, audience community, and launch pad."

    Executive Director Leonard Jacobs

Audience in a theater or lecture hall, seated in green chairs, attentively listening to a presentation or performance

GET INVOLVED

JCAL annually seeks up and coming and midcareer playwrights to submit their proposals for Meet the Playwright. Those who are accepted receive a stipend and the opportunity to share their story through the power of theatre. Stay tuned about upcoming opportunities for playwrights through our Artist Registry.

Join our Registry →

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