The FutureNow Fellowships

A Director and Playwright Development Partnership with Chautauqua Theater Company
2026 Application Opens September 16, 2025 | Closes January 5, 2026
APPLICATION PORTAL
F.A.Q. PAGE
OTHER PROGRAMS
Germainne Lebrón and Julien Alam in August Strindberg’s Pariah, directed by 2025 FutureNow Fellow Yojiro Ichikawa, at Chautauqua Theater Company. Photo: George Koloski

FELLOWSHIP DETAILS

OVERVIEW
  • The FutureNow Fellowships support the partnership of a director and a playwright as foundational theater generators, offering these duos a stellar opportunity to collaborate, risk, imagine, and realize their work on stage in front of audiences.
  • In this program, a director and a playwright apply together with a project they’d like to develop. The duos receive production opportunities, financial awards, housing, community building, and engagement with leading artists in the field. The Fellowship also includes dedicated writing time, developmental resources, and a public workshop with a full design team, tech, audience and actors.
  • The directors and playwrights selected for this program converge halfway through the Fellowship. The Directing Fellows first attend Directors Project Week and the Directors Project Retreat at Carnegie Mellon, before spending nine weeks in residence at Chautauqua Theater Company, serving as assistant directors on mainstage productions and/or new play workshops and more. 
  • While at CTC, they are joined by the Playwriting Fellows for a period of five weeks. This period includes a two week workshop and culminates in the FutureNow Festival, where they will have a public workshop of the play in the new Roe Green Theater Center, a state-of-the-art complex opening in Summer 2026. The workshops will utilize the CTC Acting Conservatory and Design Fellows, who will serve as full production teams for the presentations.
  • The Fellows also receive mentorship from a nationally-renowned FutureNow Mentor throughout the program, as well as CTC and TDL staff.
  • NUMBER OF FELLOWSHIPS: Two duos, each made up of a director and a playwright applying together
  • FREQUENCY: Offered every year
  • ELIGIBILITY: Before applying, visit the  F.A.Q. page for full eligibility details.
  • DIRECTOR BENEFITS
    • DIRECTOR SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE: $850/wk for eleven weeks ($9,350) provided by The Drama League
    • DIRECTORS HEALTH INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT: Up to $200 total for travel health insurance reimbursement, provided by The Drama League
    • TRAVEL/HOUSING INFORMATION: Varies, see Program Timeline
    • OTHER BENEFITS: VIP Pass to all publicly offered Drama League programming during the Fellowship period; access to alumni-focused programs and events; lifetime Drama League Membership; Chautauqua Institution Gate Pass (valued $3,315) during time at CTC
    • LIABILITIES AND INSURANCES: Recipients will not be an employee of The Drama League nor Chautauqua Theater Company, instead a recipient of an educational program and will be considered as such under insurance policies.
  • PLAYWRIGHT BENEFITS
    • PLAYWRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE: $425/wk for five weeks ($3,400) provided by Chautauqua Theater Company, with the possibility of an additional three weeks, pending funding
    • PLAYWRIGHTS HEALTH INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT: Up to $200 total for travel health insurance reimbursement, provided by The Drama League
    • TRAVEL/HOUSING INFORMATION: Varies, see Program Timeline
    • OTHER BENEFITS: VIP Pass to all publicly offered Drama League programming during the Fellowship period; access to alumni-focused programs and events; lifetime Drama League Membership; Chautauqua Institution Gate Pass (valued $3,315) during time at CTC
    • LIABILITIES AND INSURANCES: Recipients will not be an employee of The Drama League nor Chautauqua Theater Company, instead a recipient of an educational program and will be considered as such under insurance policies.
1. DIRECTORS PROJECT WEEK | New York, NY
  • DATES: Mid-May. Approximately five days, in person, schedule TBD by The Drama League
  • DESCRIPTION: Directing Fellows begin with an intensive accelerator week of workshops, performances, learning opportunities, and private meetings with prominent artistic leaders, producers, directors, playwrights and other professionals. This culminates in attending The Drama League Awards, where the attending Directing Fellows are formally introduced to the industry.
  • TRAVEL/HOUSING: One round-trip economy airfare, train, or bus fare (depending on distance) to/from is provided by The Drama League from any U.S. Continental city, if the Recipient lives more than 25 miles from New York City. Baggage fees, airport transfers, and in-city transportation are not provided. Housing provided for directors living more than 25 miles outside of the NYC metropolitan area. Travel arrangements are managed by The Drama League.
  • DATES: Early June. Approximately five days, in person, schedule TBD by The Drama League
  • DESCRIPTION: The Directing Fellow from each duo join other Drama League Directing Fellows, professional actors, and acclaimed director-mentors in Pittsburgh for a technique-focused intensive, in residence at Carnegie Mellon University. As the directors explore monologues and scenework with professional actors, the mentors offer feedback, guidance, and support in this process-first environment. The Retreat offers Drama League Directing Fellows a rare opportunity to consciously encounter and interrogate their own directorial practice, enjoying CMU’s safe, creative environment where they can take risks and experiment free from the pressures of production.
  • TRAVEL/HOUSING: Housing for all participants is provided by Carnegie Mellon University. One round-trip economy airfare, train, car or bus (depending on distance) to Pittsburgh is scheduled and provided by The Drama League from any U.S. Continental city, if the Recipient lives more than 25 miles from the Pittsburgh metropolitan areas. Baggage fees, airport transfers, and in-city transportation are not provided. Travel arrangements are managed by The Drama League.
  • DIRECTOR DATES: 11 weeks total (Directors Project Week, 1 week, mid-May; Directors Project Retreat, 1 week, early June; CTC Engagement, 9 weeks, June-August)
  • PLAYWRIGHT DATES: 5 weeks total (CTC Engagement, 5 contiguous weeks, between June and August). Possible additional three weeks, pending funding.
  • DESCRIPTION: The Directing Fellows spend nine weeks in residence at Chautauqua Theater Company, serving as assistant directors on mainstage productions, new play workshops, and more. For five of those weeks, they are joined by the Playwriting Fellows to collaborate on their project. This time includes a two-week workshop culminating in the FutureNow Festival, featuring a public workshop production of the play in the Roe Green Theater Center, a state-of-the-art complex opening in Summer 2026. The productions will utilize the CTC Acting Conservatory and Design Fellows, who will serve as full production teams for the productions.
  • HOUSING: Fellowship housing provided by Chautauqua Theater Company.
  • TRAVEL: One round-trip economy airfare, train, car or bus (depending on distance) to Buffalo is provided by The Drama League from any U.S. Continental city, if the resident lives more than 40 miles from Buffalo and/or Chautauqua, NY. Transport from Buffalo to Chautauqua Theater Company will be managed by CTC. Baggage fees, airport transfers, and in-city transportation are not provided. Travel arrangements are managed by The Drama League.
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F.A.Q. PAGE

FELLOWSHIP PARTNERS

THE DRAMA LEAGUE
The Drama League is a career accelerator and creative home for those who, in whole or in part, identify as directors — the artists who stand in the center of collective artmaking in theater, film, television, streaming, and all creative industries that utilize live performance. The Drama League offers acclaimed access, training, mentorship and opportunity for these artists and their collaborators.  Launched in 1916, alumni of its programs, collectively known as The Directors Project, create over 1,100 projects each year for audiences around the world, numbering in the tens of millions.  To be a part of supporting future generations of artists, please visit dramaleague.org/membership.
In beautiful upstate New York, Chautauqua Theater Company produces high-quality live theater in a vibrant summer season. The company is committed to the development of new work and the next generation of theater artists. They produce galvanizing world premieres, exceptional contemporary plays, and infuse fresh insight into the classical canon. CTC is a national home for exciting new plays: commissioning, developing and producing new and established American playwrights. Chq.org
For over a century, the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama has been a leading innovator in theatrical training, consistently producing top talent on stage and behind the scenes. As the first degree-granting drama program in the United States, the School of Drama’s unique blend of rigorous conservatory training within an internationally ranked research university offers students a comprehensive education that integrates artistic mastery with diverse academic experiences. Its commitment to pioneering education and artistic development has earned it a prestigious place among the world’s top drama programs. Carnegie Mellon University is a private, internationally ranked research university with acclaimed programs spanning the sciences, engineering, technology, business, public policy, humanities and the arts. Our diverse community of scholars, researchers, creators and innovators is driven to make real-world impacts that benefit people across the globe. With a bold, interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial approach, we do the work that matters. cmu.edu
Originally established in 1989 as The Drama League Hangar Fellowship, The Drama League FutureNow Fellowships have provided crucial early opportunities to many of America’s most exciting directors, including Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown), Lear deBessonet (Ragtime), Sam Gold (Romeo and Juliet), and Michael Mayer (Chess), Pictured are 2024 FutureNow Fellows Britt Berke, Karl Michael Iglesias, and Stefan Dezil. Photo: Sean Smith.

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