Allow me to introduce eleven bold, brave playwrights challenging what it is to make theatre in this new century both in terms of who and what they write about and the form they choose to write it in.

Don’t look for one kind of play, but a collection of plays as diverse as New York itself. And don’t look for one kind of playwright. Think of them as an international collective that’s been meeting up at Columbia these past few years bashing out work driven by passion rather than seek- ing to conform to easy definition. They are as diverse as this list of their mentors, chosen by this year’s playwrights individually, including: David Auburn, Leslie Ayvazian, Lee Breuer, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, David Grimm, Tina Howe, Lisa Kron, David Lindsay-Abaire, and Craig Lucas.

We hope you’ll see the work of these artists premiering this spring at the Annex at New York Theatre Workshop (East 4th Street Theatre).

--Chuck Mee, Head of Playwriting, Columbia University School of the Arts