International
Theatermakers
Award
The International Theatermakers Award recognizes the critical contribution of theatermakers from around the world to the American theater in spite of the barriers they face to work in the United States, and seeks to expand the participation of international theatermakers who are underrepresented in the American theater industry.
As of the 2022-23 season, we are phasing out the Award. Thank you to everyone who applied, and congratulations to all the artists who received their O1 visas!
Banner Photo: Asiimwe Deborah Kawe's Appointment With gOD at the Beyond The Realm Festival, 2019, which dealt with the hardship of securing an American visa (Photo credit: Daniel J. Vasquez Productions).
Program
Details
The International Theatermakers Award program is a partnership between The Playwrights Realm and Dyer Harris LLP, a New York law firm whose focus is immigration for creative artists and professionals. The award seeks to bring clarity and comfort to the people caught up in the American immigration system, and to contribute to expanding the plurality of voices in American theater, by offering:
Free of charge, legal assistance by Dyer Harris LLP in applying for an O-1B artist visa (including related filing charges) to up to five international theatermakers, selected by a panel of experts led by The Playwrights Realm. As per The Playwrights Realm mission, at least one theatermaker must be a playwright. Check the 2020-21 winners below!
Free public digital panels on U.S. artist visa and green card application processes for international artists, to demystify these processes and expand the comfort and knowledge of international artists and American theatermakers wanting to work with immigrant artists.
“After a successful first edition in which all five winners were granted their O-1B visas, we were very excited to support a new cohort of international theatermakers. Their contribution to our industry is vital, and as an immigrant myself, I'd be remiss to not acknowledge it in The Realm's values-centric initiatives. Hopefully the American theater will follow this lead and create more welcoming space for international artists in the field!”
ROBERTA PEREIRA, Producing Director, Brazilian citizen and Green Card holder
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Meet the 2021-22 Award Winners!
Our five international theatermakers were selected from our open application process by a panel of international theatermakers spanning multiple disciplines! Learn more about the panelists here.
Nkenna Akunna
Playwright, UK
Nkenna Akunna is an Igbo playwright and performer from London. Her work has been staged in the UK and USA. She is a winner of the 2021 Rosa Parks Playwriting Award and second place 2021 Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award from The Kennedy Center, the second place 2021 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Playwriting, and the 2021 Papatango Prize. Nkenna is currently a final year MFA candidate in Playwriting at Brown University. She is also co-director at Skin Deep, a collective that makes space for Black creatives and creatives of colour through cultural production.
Dina El-Aziz
Designer, UK
Dina El-Aziz is a British-Egyptian Costume Designer based in New York. Born and raised in the UK, she moved to Egypt to study Art and Communication and Media Arts at the American University in Cairo, where she discovered her passion for costume design. A graduate of the Design for Stage and Film MFA program at NYU’s Tisch School for the Arts, Dina has worked on numerous film and theatre productions in NYC and across the US. Regional venues include Portland Center Stage, Northern Stage, The Guthrie, The Old Globe, Williamstown Theater Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Geva Theatre. Recipient of the JS Seidman Award.
Isra Elsalihie
Actor/Writer, Iraq/Sweden
Isra Elsalihie is an award-winning actor and writer of Iraqi- Swedish descent. Credits include: Noura (Johanna McKeon/Old Globe), The Invaders (London Film Festival), Arresting God (Sundance Lab), Red Balloon (Jessica Blank/The Lark), Anne Frank in the Gaza Strip (Shaun Peknic/PCTF Outstanding Supporting Actress award), Another Girl (Light Alliance), What Would You Do? (ABC Network), The Good Man (NJ Agwuna & Anne Bogart), Parisian Blues Fantasies (Friars Club/Mercedes Ellington), Platformz (Edison Diaz/ Cherry Lane), The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals 2017 and voice-over work for the Emmy winning series Super Wings. Training: Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Royal Shakespeare Company and LAByrinth Theatre Company Ensemble 2019. Isra is a Fulbright scholar & writer for Backstage.com
www.IsraElsalihie.com
@Isra.Elsalihie
Abhishek Majumdar
Playwright/Director/Designer, India
Abhishek Majumdar is an award winning playwright, theatre director and scenographer. Currently he is the artistic director of Nalanda Arts Studio Bangalore which is a collaborative arts company based out of Bangalore and Visiting Associate Professor at New York University in Abu Dhabi. He is currently developing new work for Nalanda Arts Studio, Royal Court Theatre, Bloombury, Tibet Theatre, PlayCo New York, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center amongst other places. His work has been translated to multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, Kashmiri, Czech, Tibetan, to name a few.
Tidtaya Sinutoke
(ฑิตยา สินุธก)
Composer, Thailand
Tidtaya Sinutoke (ฑิตยา สินุธก) is a Thailand born, NYC-based composer. Current composition credits include HALF THE SKY (The 5th Avenue Theatre's First Draft Commission & 20/21 Digital Season); SUNWATCHER (The Civilians R&D Group, Ancram Opera House, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Global Forms Festival); and DEAR MR. C (NYFA's City Artist Corps Grants). Recipient of the 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant, the 2020 Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award, and the 2020 Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award. Her works have been supported by the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, Drama League, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Tofte Lake’s NEAP, EtM Con Edison Composer-in-Residence, American Opera Project, and the Kurt Weill Foundation. MFA: NYU. tidtayasinutoke.com
