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The Confluence Regional Writers Project was created in 2018 to further foster a culture of playwriting in the Midwest by supporting emerging writers in Missouri and Illinois with a fellowship and weekend-long celebration of new works at the Confluence New Play Festival each spring. Thirteen new plays have been commissioned under Confluence, five of which have gone on to receive full productions throughout the U.S.

Applications are closed for the 2024 cohort – the recipients will be announced at the Confluence New Play Festival in April. 

REGIONAL WRITERS PROJECT

The Festival awards three residencies to emerging playwrights from Missouri or Illinois. The writers begin a seven-month-long program in August, with dedicated time and space to write together under the leadership of a program director and workshops from guest artists and industry professionals. The program concludes with staged readings of the new work. Cohort members commit to: 

  • Participate in a one-weekend retreat near St. Louis if deemed safe and desirable.
  • Meet monthly, from September through March, via teleconference or in person, for daylong writing sessions, workshops, and mentorship activities.
  • Participate in a knowledge-sharing opportunity for students in our youth program during one masterclass workshop in the Fall of 2024.
  • Complete a full-length play for a public reading during the Confluence New Play Festival in the Spring. Playwrights must be available for at least five days during that time to rehearse and perform their work. 
  • Receive a $3,000 stipend.

We aim to foster a diverse group of playwrights and theater-makers and propel these new works to national and international stages. Hosted at the Festival offices in Grand Center, Confluence is the ultimate meeting place for artists, audiences and playwrights to discuss and witness the new faces of American Theater.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Application Process (Now Closed)

Deadline: February 15, 2024

The application process for the 2024 Confluence Regional Writers Project cohort.

  1. One-page bio about your work as a playwright and/or theatre artist.
  2. One 10-20 page writing sample (Screenplays or TV scripts will not be reviewed). Please do not include identifying information on this document used for blind readings by our selection committee.
  3. One-page proposal of the play you are eager to write now. We understand that this may change if you receive the residency. Musical or devised works will not be accepted.

Please note that the Confluence Regional Writers Project is not reserved for adaptations of Shakespeare or work related to Shakespeare. Diversity is one of our leading values in terms of race, gender identification, age and relative physical ability. 

The deadline to apply was February 15, 2024. For questions regarding your application, contact Allie Magee

Current & Past Fellows

Nancy Bell (Founding Program Director) is the author of six Shakespeare in the Streets adaptations, two of which received St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards for Outstanding New Play. She has also written two plays for children inspired by Shakespeare for the Shakespeare Festival Education Program and for the St. Louis Symphony. Nancy was recognized in 2017 with the St. Louis Visionary Award.  She is the Program Director of Theatre at Saint Louis University.

Deanna Jent (Program Director, 2022-present) is a Professor of Theatre at Fontbonne University. Her play Falling won the Kevin Kline award for Best New Play of 2011 and was nominated for a Drama Desk Best Play award following its Off-Broadway run in 2012. Falling is published by Dramatists Play Service and continues to be produced nationally and internationally. Her adaptations of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces have been performed at theatres around the country. Other plays include Bosnian/American: The Dance For Life, Imaginary Jesus and Six. Sisters. She was the artistic director of Mustard Seed Theatre company from 2007-2019, and has directed for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, New Jewish Theatre, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Touring Company, The Orange Girls and ACT Inc. She was named “Best Director of a Musical by the St. Louis Theatre Circle for Mustard Seed Theatre’s productions of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 and Godspell. She has a BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University and a PhD from Northwestern University.

Questions?

Contact Allie Magee at allie@stlshakes.org.


The inaugural Confluence Regional Writers Project was generously funded by Sondra & Dorsey Ellis.