Playwrights for Change
Two years. One original play.
Playwrights for Change is American Legacy Theatre’s two-year residency program for emerging playwrights ready to turn bold ideas into fully realized productions.
We pair artists with the time, mentorship, and resources to develop their work from first idea to opening night—with the community driving the process every step of the way. From shaping the themes that matter most, to offering feedback through public readings and talkbacks, to championing full productions, the community is not just “along for the journey”; they are at the center of it.
Since its launch, Playwrights for Change has supported multiple artists whose work has gone on to shape both local stages and national conversations.
Quick Facts
Residency Length: 2 years Playwrights receive dedicated time, mentorship, and community support to bring an original work from concept to stage.
Community Involvement: High
Works-in-progress are shared through public readings, giving audiences a direct role in shaping the final production.Past Spotlight: Higher
A powerful musical tackling the opioid epidemic, but a love story at its core. Written by playwright Mark Levine, Higher premiered in 2021 and was restaged in 2025. Each performance was paired with optional free Narcan training, blending art with life-saving impact.Coming to the Stage: Clos(in)g
Megan Benjamin Bennett’s Clos(in)g explores rising rents, displacement, and what happens when a community fights to hold onto its home. After two years of development through Playwrights for Change, the work will receive its world premiere production in January 2027.In development: Gindependence Day Our newest Artist-in-Residence, Terry Tocantins, is developing Gindependence Day, a darkly comedic musical revue exploring America’s complicated relationship with alcohol through humor, music, and the perspective of people in recovery. Audiences will get their first look at the work during developmental staged readings this November.
Featured Works
Spotlighting original pieces developed through Playwrights for Change
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Mark Levine’s powerful original musical tackling the opioid epidemic through the lens of a love story. Premiered in 2021 and restaged in 2025. Audience members who chose to were trained in Narcan, turning theatre into a life-saving act of community engagement.
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Bridge Cityis a joyful new musical about community, code-switching, and the cost of progress—set between two neighborhoods on very different sides of change. Bridge City had its world premiere with ALT in April 2026.
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Megan Benjamin Bennett’s Clos(in)g explores rising rents, displacement, and what happens when a community fights to hold onto its home. Clos(in)g will make its debut on stage in January 2027.
Meet the Current Playwrights in Residence
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Megan Bennett is a New York–born playwright, poet, and labor leader whose work blends personal resilience with a sharp eye for community and social change. A graduate of the University at Buffalo with degrees in English and Theater, she has published multiple books of poetry and written for stage and screen. Megan is developing a new piece that explores the value of community and what happens when it is attacked, broken, or lost.
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Terry Tocantins is a playwright and performer whose work is deeply informed by his own experience with alcoholism and recovery. After studying at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at NYU, he spent years in Los Angeles’ intimate theatre scene as a writer and actor with Theatre of Note and Sacred Fools. At 43, following a period of homelessness and institutionalization for chronic alcoholism, Terry began his recovery, an experience that shaped his commitment to writing about addiction and the resilience of people living at society’s margins. He later completed his studies at the University of Louisville’s African American Theatre Program and studied at Spalding University’s Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing. His plays Too Soon and Drunky McGee were semifinalists for the National Playwrights Conference, and Drunky McGee is currently performed in rehabs, halfway houses, and the Louisville Department of Corrections.
With Gratitude to Our Program Supporters
Playwrights for Change is made possible through the generous support of the following partners, whose commitment helps bring new voices and original work to life:
