
Process and New Play Development with the Civilians’ R&D Group
Director, documentarian and ’24-’25 R&D member Ash Marinaccio hosts a group conversation around research and investigative theater.

Director, documentarian and ’24-’25 R&D member Ash Marinaccio hosts a group conversation around research and investigative theater.

Khristián Méndez Aguirre discusses the theatrical “unnaturalism” at the heart of his new play about the 2024 forest fires in Guatemala and decolonizes traditional representations of nature in Western theater and media.

Next Forever playwright Kareem Fahmy chronicles the winding journey of his play “Riparian States” and the challenges and joys of telling big stories.

R&D group member and documentarian Ash Marinaccio weaves photos and theory to talk about “2024, Spring,” her newest piece about student resistance on college campuses and what it means to dream up new worlds.

Meet the R&D class of 2024-25, as well as the immensely talented group of finalists and semi-finalists, below.

Alison Kopit, Ann Marie Dorr, and Maggie Bridger weave visions of accessible and creative theatrical futures, hinging on a new mode of working called “access dramaturgy.”

In the SEX VARIANTS program note, New Work Program Manager Melissa Hardy outlines the historical context of the play, explaining how the original source material intersects with the world of science–specifically, ideologies rooted in sexology… and eugenics.

Our final installment in the 2023-24 R&D series is the following reflection on home and citizenship by Leonardo Gonzalez Dominguez, told through the lens of their new play, ON THE EDGE OF PRESERVATION (THE PARKING LOT PLAY).

Extended Play editor Faith Zamblé charts the winding journey of the Civilians’ R&D group from its inception to current day.

Next Forever resident AriDy Nox weaves a methodology of Black feminism and curiosity as groundwork for their play, “Why Ya’ll Hate Earth So Bad?”

Jessica Elaine Ellison celebrates Black queer theater, while making a case for more diligent scholarship on Black queer artists.

An interview with Next Forever artist Kareem Fahmy about the research and creation of his new play, “Riparian States.”

R&D group member James La Bella takes us on meme-filled deconstructionist adventure through the creation of his play, “Melt.Punish.”

A series of recipes and instructions modeled (lightly) after Yoko Ono’s “Grapefruit.”
R&D group members Zachariah Ezer and Dominique Rider talk about Zachariah’s new play, “The Single Raindrop” and the theoretical philosophy behind their collaboration.
Copyright © Extended Play 2014