La MaMa’s Morgan Jenness Experiments in Playwriting Fellowship offers two early career playwrights in the NYC area an artistic home at La MaMa for the course of one year. This timeline aligns with La MaMa’s ’26-’27 theatrical season: September 2026 – June 2027. The fellowship seeks to encourage playwrights from underproduced communities with an emphasis on members of the LGBTQ+ community, People of Color, and people with disabilities. Throughout the course of the fellowship, playwrights will work with playwright and fellowship mentor, Justin Elizabeth Sayre. Fellows will meet with Sayre on a monthly basis to discuss their work and the works of previous La MaMa playwrights such as María Irene Fornés, Jackie Curtis, Sam Shepard, Robert Patrick, Adrienne Kennedy, and many more.

La MaMa houses one of the greatest archives of International, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway theatre in the world, and the fellows will have access to this amazing archive as both inspiration and insight to foster experimentation in their own work. Besides connecting with La MaMa’s past, playwrights will be able to receive complimentary tickets to La MaMa’s current season, allowing them to learn from current La MaMa artists and the work created there. At the end of the fellowship, fellows will present an open reading through the La MaMa Experiments Play Reading Series. Playwrights will be awarded a $1,500 stipend for their time as Fellows.