The New School for Drama was well represented in the 33rd Annual Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival, which featured a selection of 40 plays this past month at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in New York City. Three plays by New School for Drama students and alumni, out of six total, achieved top honors: Juniper; Jubilee by Janine Nabers (’08), directed by Alexandra Hastings (‘08); F**king Art by Bekah Brunstetter (‘07); and The Grave by Gabe McKinley (’09). Their plays will be licensed and published by Samuel French Inc.

“At The New School for Drama, we challenge our students to become courageous, informed writers who are able to thrive in the professional world,” said Robert LuPone, Director of The New School for Drama. “These achievements in the Samuel French Festival are an addition to a long list of accomplishments that reflect the talent of our students and alumni: the voices and faces of tomorrow’s theater.”

Established in 1975, the Samuel French annual week-long festival – which ran July 15-20 – culls its selections from nationwide submissions from playwriting workshops, university theater programs, and professional companies. Forty productions were selected and presented to a panel of judges composed of playwrights, agents, and Samuel French editorial staff, who then selected six finalists to have their works licensed and published by Samuel French, Inc.

Of the 40 works selected for presentation, seven were from NSD students and alumni: in addition to the three winners, these include Good Enough by Kitt Lavoie (‘01); The Visit by DeLora Whitney (‘07), directed by Graeme Gillis (‘01); A New Shade of Red by Jessica Hinds (‘10); directed by Mason Beggs (‘10);  and wild follows the queen by Matthew Paul Olmos ('04). Thirteen plays were then selected as finalists, from which the winners were chosen. These included the submissions by Whitney, Nabers, Brunstetter, and McKinley.

The cast of Naber’s Juniper; Jubilee included a number of New School for Drama students and alumni: Brittany Bellizeare (‘09), Andreas Tselepos (‘08), Grace Evans (‘08), Rena Krumholz (‘08), LaChrisha Brown (‘10), Mia Kristin Smith (‘10), and Ayo Cummings (‘10).

The achievement at The Samuel French Festival coincides with a period of continuing success for the playwriting MFA program, which is chaired by Pippin Parker. Other recent achievements include previous Samuel French Festival winners Ted Nusbaum (’06) and Drama’s associate director Matthew Kelty; Jason Holtham (‘00) whose work will be developed and produced as part of the new Time Warner Commissioning Program at Second Stage Theater; and Jeremy Kareken (‘00), who recently won the fourth annual Two-Headed Challenge co-sponsored by the Playwright’s Center and Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.