Meet the Playwright

Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL) is pleased to open its application portal for the 5th Annual Meet the Playwright (MTP2025) program. JCAL seeks four new, unpublished, unproduced plays by grassroots, early-career, and/or emerging playwrights for MTP2025.

MTP2025 spotlights emerging theatre writers identifying as BIIPOC (Black, Immigrant, Indigenous, People of Color), with an emphasis Queens-based playwrights. Each month, from November 2025 to February 2026, each of this year’s playwrights will present at least 25 minutes, and no more than 35 minutes, from their play as a professional staged reading for a live audience. The performance concludes with a moderated Q&A between the audience, playwright, director, and creative team.

In MTP2025, each selected playwright receives a $2,000 stipend. With this stipend, each playwright covers the cost of engaging directors, actors, and any other collaborators (e.g., dramaturgs, designers) they wish. Each playwright also receives at least one, but up to two, private readings of the play at JCAL, and will meet monthly with the MTP Program Manager.

While MTP prioritizes Queens-based writers identifying as BIIPOC, any NYC-based BIIPOC playwright is eligible to apply. Applicants will be selected by a jury of cultural leaders representing the diversity of NYC’s theatre community.