Queen Esther is one of five playwrights accepted to the WP Theater's "Pipeline" Play Lab -- a two year residency for playwrights, directors and producers that has served over 350 artists since its founding as The Director’s Forum in 1983. This residency will culminate in an Off-Broadway run for her original full length work in the spring of 2024.
From BroadwayWorld.com: The artistic heart of WP Theater, the two-year Lab residency provides rising stars in the industry with a vital professional network, entrepreneurial and leadership training, rehearsal space, and most significantly, tangible opportunities for the development and production of bold new work for the stage. As the culmination of the Lab, the Pipeline Festival presents a unique opportunity for audiences and industry to access five new plays at various stages of development, ranging from staged readings to full-length workshop productions. True to its name, the WP Pipeline Festival serves as a pipeline to funnel talented Women+ artists and their work to the forefront of American theater.
The 2022-2024 WP Lab artists are:
PLAYWRIGHTS: Amara Janae Brady (she/her), Cristin Eve Cato (she/her), Queen Esther (she/her), Amina Henry (she/her), Else Went (they/she)
DIRECTORS: Jordana De La Cruz (she/they), Onyekachi Iwu (she/her), Julia Sirna-Frest (she/her), Dina Vovsi (she/her), Ran Xia (she/her)
PRODUCERS: Alverneq Lindsay (she/her), Emma Orme (she/her), Sami Pyne (she/her), Barbara Samuels (she/her), Praycious Wilson-Gay (she/her)
About WP Theater: Now in its 45th Season, WP Theater is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of Women+ at every stage of their careers. For over four decades, WP has served as leaders of a global movement towards gender parity - and the artists fostered have grown into a robust, thriving community in theater and beyond. WP empowers Women+ artists of all kinds to reach their full potential, challenging preconceptions about the kinds of plays they write and the stories they tell.
Founded in 1978 by Julia Miles as Women's Project Theater, WP Theater has earned acclaim as a home for Women+ theatermakers, historically marginalized in the field, to hone their craft while becoming leaders, change-makers, and advocates in the industry. To date, the company has produced more than 600 Mainstage productions and developmental projects and published 11 anthologies of plays by Women+ artists, and continues to forge forward in making a difference in the artistic landscape of New York and beyond, by offering these artists a platform to develop and present their stories.
Today, WP accomplishes its mission through several fundamental programs, including: the WP Lab, a celebrated two-year mentorship and new play development program for Women+ playwrights, directors, and producers; the Domestic Partner residency program; the Developmental series of workshops and readings; the Commissioning program, and the Mainstage series, which features a full season of Off-Broadway productions written and directed by extraordinary theater artists.
WP Theater received a Lucille Lortel Award and an Obie Award, both for Outstanding Body of Work; and a 2020 Special Drama Desk Award recognizing WP and its founder, Julia Miles. As the premier launching pad for some of the most influential artists in theater, television, and film, WP's work has a significant impact on the field. Nearly every notable female theater artist has been through its doors, including: 2019 Tony Winner Rachel Chavkin; two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage, 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winner Martyna Majok; MacArthur "Genius" Grant Winner & Tony Award Nominee Dominique Morisseau; Tony Winner Pam MacKinnon; and Tony Winner Diane Paulus. At WP, these powerful women found an early artistic home and are a testament to the organization's role as a driving cultural force.
*When we say Women+, we mean people who are cis women, trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming people, and all gender identities which have been systematically oppressed throughout history in the theater and beyond.