The Playwrights Theater O’Neill Studio seeks (unpaid) playwright interns ages 18-25 to take part in a pilot project through which our new play development wing will be adapted for the online platform.

The playwright interns will provide feedback on their experience along the way to help refine and enhance it.

In our process, which originated at Yale University, young playwrights write new works inspired by an exploration of the life and work of Eugene O’Neill, America’s only Nobel Prize-winning playwright. Just as O’Neill built his work on the plays of European masters Strindberg and Ibsen, O’Neill Studio playwrights seek to stand on O’Neill’s shoulders.

The group sessions, which will be led by Playwrights Theater artistic director Stephen Kennedy Murphy, WIKI Link, are envisioned as the foundation for a potential online series featuring young playwrights linked in a chain of mentorship anchored in Eugene O’Neill’s legacy as a literary mentor.

Throughout this process, in two levels, early career playwrights will be linked as mentors to college-aged playwrights, as both levels tap into O’Neill’s creative spirit.

To this end, O’Neill plays and related biographical material will be discussed in our sessions by the playwrights as it informs the writing of one-act plays that they will write inspired by their exploration.

They will do this by writing variations on a given O’Neill focal work. This may be realized in a variety of ways including writing an update of it, a potential sequel or transplanting its setting, altering its characters or even using it as a jumping-off point for an independent work.

The one-on-one online mentoring format is envisioned as the mentor mainly asking questions of the mentee, or in the words of one of our Yale playwrights, an “interrogative rather than prescriptive” approach. In it, the drawing out rather than outright advising of the mentee will be encouraged to deepen a distinctly personal connection to O’Neill.

Benefits-

Experience the rewards of giving or receiving mentorship.

Create a valuable resource for resume building and recommendation letters.

Receive feedback from fellow playwrights and from the artistic director

Gain a deep knowledge of O’Neill and ignite your imagination by exploring his genius.

Draw inspiration from the vitality of his plays to write your own.

TO APPLY: Send resume to studio@eugeneoneill.net with a short original play. Also send a self-tape video introducing yourself and explaining why you are a good candidate for the internship.