19th Annual
La MaMa Umbria International Playwright Retreat
Playwrights are welcome to spend their summer with La MaMa Umbria International in beautiful Spoleto, Italy. The selected group of playwrights will participate in writing workshops led by an award-winning playwright while enjoying the peaceful surroundings of the Italian countryside. Past workshop leaders include Branden Jacob-Jenkins, Mac Wellman, Lynn Nottage, and Lisa Kron.
AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT DAEL ORLANDERSMITH WILL LEAD
THE LA MAMA UMBRIA INTERNATIONAL RETREAT IN SPOLETO, ITALY
THIS SUMMER.
Join Dael Orlandersmith and an international group of writers for 10 days of writing, reading, discussing and sharing with colleagues. Dael will initiate opportunities for approaches to writing plays you may not have experienced. During your stay at the La MaMa residency, you’ll enjoy farm-to-table Umbrian cuisine, use of the residency’s rehearsal studio, music room, gallery, cafe and many outdoor areas. The residency runs from August 9-19, 2025.
“From my heart to your heart – thank you – I live in gratitude for your incredibly kind generosity in supporting my artistry and its expansion. This experience has impacted, informed and influenced my artistry infinitely. Thank you for the gift. I will carry the spirit of La MaMa with me into all my creation rooms.” – Tricia Trihn
Over the past quarter century La MaMa Umbria has hosted hundreds of directors and theatre scholars who come to the Symposiums to refresh their skills, experiment with new forms of theatre — both aesthetic and cross-cultural, and most specifically to absorb the many, very different approaches that master directors use to create their work.
Each year, La MaMa Umbria gathers a cohort of some of the most notable directors and playwrights from around the world to share their inimitable practices with the participants. Past years’ artists included Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, Lisa Kron, Martyna Majok, Todd London, Migdalia Cruz, Moisés Kaufman, Lynn Nottage to name a few. The tradition continues with this year’s extraordinary artists.
* * * * * *
For decades La MaMa Umbria and La MaMa NYC — both founded and guided by the legendary Ellen Stewart — have been recognized for building a ‘home’ for international artists and the art they make. Inviting artists to come together from all over the world at La MaMa Umbria honors Stewart’s lifelong philosophy of building community — “a unified global community.”
When Ellen Stewart won the MacArthur (‘genius”) grant, she knew she had to use the funds to create an international haven for artists. La MaMa Umbria hosts artist residencies, and organizes workshops led by internationally renowned theatre professionals whose work is impacting the contemporary landscape of performative arts. Immersed in the creative, natural and regenerative environment of Umbria, culturally diverse artists live together at La MaMa’s historic villa, while working on productions or participating in workshops to develop their artistic skills.
The spirit of Ellen and her vision continues to touch everyone who visits. Artists from dozens of countries have found their way to La MaMa Umbria and have been changed by the experience. The world of theatre comes together here and provides inspiration, sustenance and freedom to create.
For more information:
https://www.lamama.org/programs/umbria-international
or contact David J Diamond at [email protected].
BIO
DAEL ORLANDERSMITH
Playwright, Performer
Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award-winning playwright Dael Orlandersmith continues to push the boundaries of contemporary theater with her powerful and evocative storytelling. Most recently, in 2024, she performed Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance at Merrimack Theatre in Lowell, Massachusetts, following performances at Rattlestick Theater (Fall/Winter 2023) and CATF Theater in West Virginia (2023). That same summer, she appeared in Pre-Existing Condition by Marin Ireland, directed by Maria Dizzia at Connelly Theater in New York City.
In 2021, Until the Flood, her acclaimed solo play about race and social justice, was performed at the Berlin Summer Theater Festival, following a series of productions across the U.S., including the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Denver Arts Festival, and the Spoleto Festival in South Carolina in 2020. In 2019, she brought Until the Flood to Portland Center Stage in the spring and to the Galway Arts Festival in the summer, after its successful 2018 runs at Rattlestick Theater (NYC), Milwaukee Rep, The Goodman Theatre, and ACT Seattle.
Her deeply personal work Forever, a solo memoir play, debuted at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles in 2014 before moving to Long Wharf Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop in 2015, with further performances at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 2017. She also wrote and performed Black N’ Blue Boys/Broken Men, a solo piece commissioned by the Goodman Theatre and co-produced with Berkeley Rep in 2012-2013.
Orlandersmith’s work has left an indelible mark on American theater. Her play Lady in Denmark premiered at the Goodman Theatre in 2018. Earlier works include Until the Flood (commissioned by St. Louis Rep in 2016), Bones (Mark Taper Forum, 2010), Horse Dreams (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 2011), and The Blue Album (co-written with David Cale, Long Wharf Theatre, 2007).
She gained national recognition with Yellowman (2002), a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee, commissioned by McCarter Theatre and co-produced with The Wilma Theater and Long Wharf Theatre. Her breakout play The Gimmick (1998) won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 1999 after premiering at McCarter Theatre and later receiving acclaim at Long Wharf Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop. Her early work Monster debuted at New York Theatre Workshop in 1996.
Beyond her theatrical contributions, Orlandersmith has toured extensively with the Nuyorican Poets Café (Real Live Poetry) across the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Her plays, including Yellowman, have been published by Vintage Books and Dramatists Play Service.
A recipient of numerous honors, she has attended the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab for four summers and has been awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the 2005 PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for a playwright in mid-career. She has also been honored with a Lucille Lortel Foundation Playwrights Fellowship and an Obie Award for Beauty’s Daughter.
She is currently developing a new play, Bloody Memory, for the Goodman Theatre, and a book of autofiction.
La MaMa Umbria Symposium and Retreat FAQ
How is it decided who will be accepted into the Programs?
The applications are considered on the basis of the responses to the questions on your resume and the Application Form: why is this Program appropriate for you and what do you hope to get out of it? Once the Application has been vetted, and approved, the participants will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. If the Program is filled up, there is a Waiting List you can join.
How does the Waiting List work?
If a Program fills up, we will let you know and put you on the Wait List. If someone drops out, we will go to the next person on the List and offer them that spot. This could happen any time up to a week prior to the start of the Program. If you decide not to wait, please let us know and we will remove your name from the List.
Should I wait until I have been accepted prior to sending in my deposit?
You can wait until you receive an acceptance letter, but we will not reserve your spot until we receive your deposit. If you send your deposit and are not accepted, you will receive a full refund (except for credit card fees.)
What is the Application deadline for the Playwright and Directing programs?
The deadline is May 15th, but the Programs could fill up prior to that date. Please check with us to see if there is still space. We will have a waiting list for those who wish to wait to see if someone who applied decides not to attend. If we receive your Deposit by May 15th and we are not yet full, we will hold your spot.
If I pay the Deposit and find that I cannot attend, willI get a refund?
You will get a full refund if you cancel by May 15th, except for the credit card fee.
When is the Full Payment due?
Full payment is due by June 1st.
If I pay the Full Payment and then I find I cannot come, will I get a Refund?
You will get a Full Refund (except for Credit Card charges) if we have a Waiting List and we can find someone to take your spot. If not, you will get a 50% Refund if you let us know by June 15th. After June 15th, there are no Refunds.
Is there a way to pay where I won’t incur Credit Card charges?
Yes, you can pay by check, made out to La MaMa ETC and mailed to: La MaMa ETC, Umbria Programs, 66 East Fourth Street, New York, NY 10003, USA. There are no additional fees. You can also pay by bank transfer or Zelle. There are no additional fees to us, but your bank may charge you a fee. Speak to our Business Manager to arrange for a bank transfer: [email protected].
Many of our international artists cannot afford to make the trip to Umbria. We offer limited financial assistance to disadvantaged artists from countries that have had little to no representation in our residency programs. It costs approximately $5,000 for the entire trip, which includes admission fee, accommodation, meals, workshops, and international travel for one participant. All donations will help us achieve this goal. In addition, we are continually upgrading our facilities to provide the best possible experience for the attendees. We need funds to cover the cost of maintaining La MaMa Umbria, a 700 year-old structure, while adding modern technology to allow more diverse performance creation.
