The Drama League Directing Residencies are designed to support the interrogative processes of generative directors, creating work that includes live performance. The residencies offer financial support for a multi-stage developmental process, rehearsal and administrative space, dramaturgical/mentor support from the artistic staff of the partner companies, and the opportunity to share the findings of the process publicly.

The Beatrice Terry Residency, a partnership with New York Stage And Film, is designed for stage directors who identify as generative artists…that is, both writer and director of projects, directing AND writing or adapting the text of the theatrical production.

The Terry Residency is specifically open to women and nonbinary people; the Residency seeks to make space and resources for these communities, who often encounter sexism, gender bias, misogyny, and other barriers as creators when they choose to both write and direct simultaneously. This residency is named for Drama League alumnus Beatrice Terry, who pioneered her own approach to theatrical creation during her lifetime, as a writer and director of her own work in a male-dominated field.

The Residency will include four phases:

• Pre-Residency Activity that includes generating text and ideas to explore during the NYSAF Residency, and dramaturgical and logistical planning with The Drama League;
• A Creative Residency during New York Stage And Film’s Summer Season in Poughkeepsie, NY that that prioritizes explorative efforts on the dramatic material;
• An Inspiration Experience offered by The Drama League to expand understanding and experiential learning about the project; and
• A Staged Reading, produced by New York Stage And Film and presented at the Drama League Studio Lab in New York City. This reading will be presented as part of New York Stage and Film’s New York City programming.

The Drama League is not, and will not be, the producers of the project itself, nor producers of any public or private event in conjunction with this residency.

Applications are especially welcome from directors who identify as members of populations that have historically been denied equity, access, inclusion or belonging in the field and in society, who have been marginalized, underrepresented, and/or those whose paths to direction may have been nonlinear or nontraditional. This includes, but is not limited to, Black, Indigenous, Latine (Latino/Latina), AAPI (Asian-American/Pacific Islander), MENASA (Middle Eastern/North African/South Asian), Biracial, Mixed-Race, Global Majority, LGBTQIAA2+, non-binary directors, disabled, and/or immigrant directors or directors not born in the United States. Please see our F.A.Q. page for eligibility questions.