Ojai Playwrights Conference

The Ojai Playwrights Conference is a new play development program based in Ojai, California. The mission of the organization is to develop unproduced plays of artistic excellence that focus on the compelling social, political and cultural issues of our era from diverse playwrights both emerging and established, and to nurture a new generation of playwrights and theatre artists.

Ojai Playwrights Conference
Genre	Theatre festival
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	Besant Hill School, Ojai, California
Country	United States
Inaugurated	1998 (1998)
Website	www.ojaiplays.org

Activities

Each summer playwrights, directors, dramaturges, and other theatre professionals gather in Ojai for a two-week conference culminating in a New Works Festival, in which new plays are presented in staged readings, and audiences are invited to join in post-play discussions.^{[citation needed]} The readings, performed by professional actors, generally occur at Zalk Theater on the campus of Ojai's Besant Hill School.^{[citation needed]} In addition to the new play workshops, the Festival also features various performance events and presentations of original works by conference interns and youth workshop program participants.

Founded in 1998, the not-for-profit arts organization was led by artistic director and producer Robert Egan from 2001 until 2022.^[1] Under his leadership, the Ojai Playwrights Conference has grown over the years in the number of artists served, the diversity of its artists and leadership.^{[citation needed]} In 2019, the Ojai Playwrights Conference was awarded the Gordon Davidson Award for distinguished contribution to the Los Angeles theatrical community by the LA Drama Critics Circle.^{[citation needed]}

Plays developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference have been performed on Broadway, in the West End, off-Broadway, and at regional theatres.^{[citation needed]} Both "Fun Home" and "Other Desert Cities" were workshopped at the Ojai Playwrights Conference^[2][3] and were Pulitzer Finalists;^[4][5] "Fun Home" won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Caroline, or Change won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.^[6] "Eclipsed" and The Motherfucker with the Hat^[1] were each nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.^{[citation needed]}

Plays

The following plays have been developed through the Ojai Playwrights Conference:

• Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz^[1]
• The Motherfucker With the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis^[1]
• Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis^[1]
• In the Continuum by Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter^[1]
• Eclipsed by Danai Gurira^[1]
• God Spies by Bill Cain^[7]
• Geometry of Fire by Stephen Belber^[8]
• The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis^[8]
• Well by Lisa Kron^[8]
• Caroline, or Change by Jeanie Tesori and Tony Kushner^[8]

Further reading

• Margaret Gray (August 22, 2022). Conversation Starters: How Robert Egan Put Ojai Playwrights on the Map. American Theatre
• Rachel Lee Harris (July 6, 2009). California Samples New York Playwrights. The New York Times 158 (54728), p. C2