Jam on!

Great to see you—or meet you!—at The Bushwick Starr this fall. Thanks for coming to see A WOMAN AMONG WOMEN, we had just the best time, and hope you did, too.

You may not know... that playwright Julia May Jonas and director Sarah Hughes began their collaboration here at New Georges in The Jam, our vital working lab for early- to mid-career theatermakers. Well, there's a new Jam in town! Meet them below, and of course we'll keep you posted on whatever transpires. —Susan + Jaynie

Artist-led and collaboration-based, The Jam was founded in 2010 as a group for early-career playwrights and directors, and it's sure been a kick to see it evolve to reflect how artists create now. This cycle, we ecstatically welcome a crowd of intergenerational iconoclasts making work in a multitude of theatrical disciplines.

You can stay in The Jam for as long as it serves you, and our 12 new Jammers join 15 who return (some as active collaborators, some as community members), including brilliant Jam co-facilitators Thalia Sablon, Dina Vovsi, and Deepali Mattoo Gupta Zeer. Consider the mini-bios a teaser... click on their websites or give 'em a Google to see just how accomplished they all are.

joining The Jam...

EMILY ABRAMS is a director of theatre, circus, and vibes. Her work is heavily influenced by the Theatre-of-the-Ridiculous movement, camp, parody, clown, and midnight-cult-classic movies. She is super weird. But also nice. she/her EmilyAbramsDirects.com

NJ AGWUNA is a director of stage and screen and accomplished voice actor. She’s worked nationally/internationally exploring classics, developing and devising theatrical experiences through spectacle. Drama League Alum, Tectonic Theatre Project Member. Directing MFA- Columbia; SDC. she/they njagwuna.com

HYOJEONG CHOI I am a writer who likes to write - or think about writing - about physics, women, existential crises, myths, democracy, colonialism, psychological disorders, sex, and love. I may have a penchant for tragedy. she/her hyojeongchoi.com

ABIGAIL GAMPEL in the present. Bringing her worlds into theatrical union--an exploration of care giving and drawing the human body, learned shame sung into sacred rage, walking the precipice of longing into belonging, as mortality nears and re-membering is joyous. she/her

CARSEN JOENK is a director, sound designer, co-AD of Rat Queen Theatre Company, co-founder of interactive media company Sour Milk, former Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow, lover of fancy dress, and hater of cooked carrots. she/her carsen-joenk.com

ANN KREITMAN writes, directs, and clowns their way through plays and non-plays with queer archives as their favorite collaborator. In 2020, Ann co-founded the LGBTQ Iowa Archives & Library to preserve and share Iowa's queer history. any pronouns annkreitman.com

CATE McCREA is a scenographer specializing in collaborative development of new works. Recent design credits: The Keep Going Songs (LCT3), Uncle! (The Kitchen), The Good John Proctor (Bedlam), Corsicana (Playwrights Horizons, co-design). she/her catemccrea.com

LIZ MORGAN  is a Caribbean-American actor, writer, deviser, cultural worker and Theatre of the Oppressed Joker. She can direct and produce in a pinch. MFA: Brown/Trinity Rep. she/her lizmorganonline.com

GRACE OBERHOFER is a Tacoma, WA, native and a composer, writer, performer, sound designer, educator, and occasional mime who often tells stories about women who are not perfect, but rather, amazing. she/her graceoberhofer.com

VIOLETA PICAYO is a bilingual Cuban-American director, choreographer, and actor. She believes the imagination is our greatest tool for compassion and social change, and the theater is where we gather to practice this together. she/her/ella VioletaPicayo.com

SOPHIE SAGAN-GUTHERZ’s practice involves writing, producing, acting and singing across stage and screen. They’ve applied to The Jam since 2020--don’t give up! And put disabled people in leadership positions! they/them sophiesagangutherz.com. 

MARISSA JOYCE STAMPS is a Black, Haitian-American, NYC-born + based writer, director, choreographer, performer, and educator who creates vortexes centering Black folks through an Afrosurrealist lens, often in dialogue with kinetics and landscape dramaturgy. she/her marissajoycestamps.com

THALIA SABLON, a Brooklyn-based playwright and producer, creates surreal stories. Her work has been featured at Rutgers, The Workshop Theatre, and Conch Shell Productions. She is a co-facilitator of NG’s Jam! she/her thaliasablon.univer.se

DINA VOVSI directs and creates plays in theaters, parks, bookstores and rivers, and is a passionate explorer of the intimacy, immediacy, adventure, and communality of non-traditional performance spaces. she/her dinavovsi.com

DEEPALI MATTOO GUPTA ZEER is a freelance artist, facilitator, and organizer. In their spare time she enjoys playing with Kaju, cooking up nonsense, and drawing ritualistically. she/her  deepalizeer.com

continuing in The Jam...

LIZ APPEL is a playwright. She’s thrilled to be in The Jam. Check out her work here: liz-appel.com she/her

LYNDSEY BOURNE is a Canadian Playwright, teacher, doula and beekeeper based in Brooklyn. she/they

ELLAROSE CHARY is an award-winning writer and advocate for inclusion in musical theater. She likes making art in community and believes the future of theater is universal healthcare. she/her   ellarosechary.com

AMINA HENRY is a Brooklyn-based playwright who writes satirical fairy tales for adults and children. Recently, her play When the Other Mary Celeste Sank was featured in the 2024 WP Pipeline Festival. she/her

KIMILLE HOWARD theater/opera director, writer, deviser, filmmaker, Assistant Stage Director at the Metropolitan Opera, Artistic Director of the Lucille Lortel’s NYC Public High School Playwriting Fellowship program. she/her kimillehoward.com

CHARLENE JEAN is a Brooklyn-based Haitian-American queer playwright and performer who creates narratives exploring identity, home, and belonging. they/them

ALEX KEEGAN is a director, adaptor, and devisor—current member of the New Georges Jam and WP Lab. Former Directing Fellow at The Drama League and Rattlestick Theater. MFA: Yale Drama. she/her  alex-keegan.com

KATELYNN KENNEY is a disabled, queer Filipina American writer/director who develops work for the stage, screen, audio, and games. She’s also a professional Dungeon Master. she/her linktr.ee/kkenneyplays

DIVYA MANGWANI is a writer, director and dancer from Pune. She was the founder and Artistic Director of Moonbeam Factory Theatre in India and has written, directed and produced plays in India, Singapore, the US and UK. she/her divyamangwani.com

ELI NIXON is into naturedrag, flotillas, and embarrassment. They are a settler-descended transqueer clown, a cardboard constructionist, and a maker of drawings, puppets, pageants, parades, suitcase theater, and low-tech public spectaculah. they/them elinixon.com

NADIRA SIMONE is a poet, playwright and teaching artist. My writing is my way to examine this world, to examine myself within it & within relation to it…‘I am because we are’. she/her nadirasimone.com

ASHLEY OLIVEA TEAGUE is a director, Creative Content Producer, the recipient of the Embark Award for Social Innovation in Entrepreneurship, and founder of Notch Theatre Company. Her plays and partnerships have been presented nationwide. she/her

and have a peaceful holiday

New Georges advocates for an intergenerational ecosystem of exuberant theatrical minds, furthering fierce new works along with long-term wellbeing, expanding aesthetic boundaries and gender equity in tandem.