Meet The Playwright LAB 2026

 MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT (LAB) RFP

Deadline: Monday, July 13, 2026

Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) is pleased to open its application portal for the 6th annual Meet the Playwright (MTP) program, now expanded into an 8-month MTP Lab for professional development and showcasing new, unpublished, unproduced plays by a four-member cohort.

MTP Lab will continue to spotlight early-career theater writers who identify as BIIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Immigrant, People of Color). While MTP prioritizes Queens-based writers identifying as BIIPOC, any NYC-based BIIPOC playwright may apply. Applicants will be selected by a peer jury comprised of playwrights, creative professionals, and cultural leaders representing the diversity of NYC’s theater community.

Led by Program Manager Iyvon E., the MTP Lab is a cohort-based playwright residency that invests in early-career writers through long-arc career and dramaturgical development combined with industry mentorship and access. This takes the form of biweekly convenings (remote, offsite, and at JCAL), professional development workshops, and mentoring processes. Two mentors in particular—a playwright mentor and a producing/directing mentor—drives the playwrights’ growth, amplifying and deepening progress made in regular writing labs through one-on-one support and seminars with guest speakers. 

The MTP Lab culminates in a staged reading of a new work by each member of the cohort at JCAL’s 94-seat studio theater that is free and open to the public, followed by a moderated Q&A with the audience and a reception in the playwright’s honor. Each cohort member receives $300 per month, a total of $2,400, for participation in the program. Each playwright may also schedule up to 100 hours of free rehearsal space prior to the staged reading.

Timeline (Important Dates)

 LAB MEETINGS (WEDNESDAYS 7:00 pm–9:00 pm) 

Participating playwrights are required to attend all the meetings listed below.

October 2026 

· October 7, 2026

· October 21, 2026 

November 2026 

· November 4, 2026 

· November 18, 2026 

December 2026 

· December 2, 2026

· December 16, 2026 

January 2027 

· January 6, 2027 

· January 20, 2027 

February 2027

· Feb 10, 2027

· Feb 24, 2027

March 2027

· March 10, 2027

· March 24, 2027

April 2027

· April 7, 2027

· April 21, 2027

May 2027

· May 5, 2027

· May 19, 2027

Public Reading Dates (FRIDAYS 8:00 pm)

· Feb 19, 2027

· March 19, 2027

· April 16, 2027

· May 14, 2027

Eligibility & Criteria 

· All applications and materials MUST be submitted via Submittable.com. Applications received by other methods, such as dropping off or handing directly to JCAL personnel, will not be considered.

· Playwrights submit 25 pages of a fully developed play and 10 pages of a new play that they propose to develop through the program. Semi-finalists will be invited to submit the complete manuscript of their fully developed work.

· The proposed play, when completed, typically has a running time of 90 minutes or less.

· Playwrights whose work has had professional productions beyond the Actors’ Equity Showcase Code are not eligible for this program.

· Playwrights must be age 18 or older to participate.

Selection 

· Submissions are reviewed and adjudicated by a peer jury of theater professionals.

· The jury will select finalists for interviews with the Project Manager and JCAL leadership.

· Interviews take place virtually during the week of August 9, 2026, and August 16, 2026.

· Four selected playwrights for the MTP LAB will be notified during the week of August 30, 2026.

About JCAL

Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL), founded in 1972, is a multidisciplinary arts center based in the diverse community of Southeast Queens. Our mission is devoted to offering quality visual and performing arts and to providing accessible education programs to encourage participation in the arts.

JCAL’s core service area is Southeast Queens. We welcome artists, learners, and audiences to the Jamaica Arts Center and the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, both in downtown Jamaica, and to partner sites, such as the public schools and senior centers in Queens. We also welcome artists, learners, and audiences to partner projects at the Red Wall Art Gallery at Resorts World New York City, Terminal 6 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Greater Nexus, operated by Greater Jamaica Development Corporation.

When selecting artists, we give priority to those who live or practice in Southeast Queens, followed by artists from throughout the “world’s borough,” and then from the Greater New York City area and beyond. Our arts and education programs similarly aim to “super-serve” Queens audiences—and to welcome everyone to downtown Jamaica.

JCAL is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and is closed on major holidays. For additional information, call JCAL at 718-658-7400 or visit www.JCAL.org.

Contact:

Dsmith@JCAL.org