Fellows

The DGF Fellows program is a free, year-long New York City-based intensive for professional dramatists, hosted by the Dramatists Guild Foundation, designed to eliminate historical barriers of entry for many emerging dramatists. The program provides its Fellows with one-on-one mentoring from accomplished professionals in the field who help them hone their process, find their unique voice, and revise and edit existing work ready for development.

Support for DGF’s Fellows program has been generously provided in part by the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation and Jeffrey Seller Family Foundation.

 

Applications are open now for the DGF Fellows Program!

Applications will be accepted until June 30, 2026 at 11:59pm ET, or until 275 applications for playwriting, and 225 applications for musical theatre are received, whichever comes first. If applying as a team, only one application needs to be submitted.

Apply to Be A Musical Theater Fellow

Apply To Be A Playwriting Fellow 

Meet DGF’s National Fellows Class of 2026:

Kari Barclay, Playwriting Fellow based in Cleveland, Ohio. Learn More!
Georgina Escobar, Musical Theater Fellow based in El Paso, Texas. Learn More!
Jennine “DOC” Krueger, Musical Theater Fellow based in Atlanta, Georgia. Learn More!
Jessi Pitts, Musical Theater Fellow based in Seattle, Washington. Learn More!
Laura Schein, Musical Theater Fellow based in Los Angeles, California. Learn More!
Lolita Stewart-White, Playwriting Fellow based in Miami, Florida. Learn More!
Gretchen Suárez-Peña, Playwriting Fellow based in Boca Raton, Florida. Learn More!
Thelma Virata de Castro, Playwriting Fellow based in San Diego, California. Learn More!
Ben Zeadman, Musical Theater Fellow based in Los Angeles, California. Learn More!

About DGF National Fellows Program

Our historic Fellows program has expanded to have a virtual offering for playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists located across the United States.

Support for DGF’s National Fellows 2026 Class is generously provided by James Martin and Terrence Lynch.

Learn More

Alumni

Since its inception in 2000, the Fellows program has given over 160 writers a path forward in the industry, with several going on to achieve the highest levels of recognition in both theater and film.

Fellows alumni include Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen, In Transit, Coco), Chisa Hutchinson (She Like Girls, The Wedding Gift), Michael R. Jackson (Pulitzer Prize Winner, A Strange Loop), Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), Antoinette Nwandu (Pass Over), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman, La La Land), Lauren Yee (The Great Leap, King of the Yees), and many more.

View Our Fellows Directory