The New School for Drama Gets Naked… Angels
Naked Angels, the eclectic downtown theater company has found a new home at The New School for Drama, providing undergraduate and graduate students with a creative environment to experiment and collaborate, in addition to a professional association with working artists involved in New York City theater.
“This alliance brings together the two voices in contemporary theater best equipped to cultivate new work,” said Pippin Parker, director of the New School for Drama and a founding member of Naked Angels. “Having been a part of Naked Angels and The New School for so many years, I understand their shared interest in testing the waters with provocative, original art that interrogates basic assumptions, yet provides a rigorous foundation on which students will build their unique careers.”
Naked Angels’ celebrated development programs and cold reading series, including Tuesdays@9, 1st Mondays and the Naked Radio podcast, will continue to incubate dramatic work, with New School students contributing their efforts to these familiar laboratories. New School students will also participate in Naked Angels’ 3Thursdays, which leads high school students from conception to creation to performance. In turn, Naked Angels will produce plays and maintain administrative oversight over its development programs from The New School for Drama’s home on Bank Street.
Andy Donald, Naked Angels’ artistic director, will remain in his position as both organizations optimize this partnership. “Every day I am honored to be a part of this incredible company,” Donald said. “With this exciting relationship on the horizon, I look forward to working with Pippin on our next chapter in continuing to nurture the next generation of artists, devising a truly innovative partnership with one of the city’s major universities.”
Naked Angels, founded in 1986, has incubated and produced some of the most celebrated recent work in American theater, including Geoffrey Nauffts’ “Next Fall” (Broadway transfer, two Tony Award nominations), Zayd Dohrn’s “Outside People,” Chloe Moss’ “This Wide Night,” Wil Eno’s “Thom Pain (based on nothing)”, Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Starry Messenger,” and “The Substance of Fire,” by Jon Robin Baitz, who also serves as Artistic Director of The New School for Drama’s new BFA in Dramatic Arts. Since it was established in 2005, The New School for Drama has graduated acclaimed young playwrights including New York New Voices Fellow Bekah Brunstetter (“Be A Good Little Widow”), Daniel Pearle (Laurents-Hatcher Award-winning “A Kid Like Jake”), 2012 New York Theater Workshop Fellow Janine Nabers (“Welcome to Jesus,” “Serial.Black.Face.”) and Gabe McKinley (“CQ/CX”)—all of whom have won the Samuel French Short Play Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival.