Corkscrew Theater Festival (2017-Present)
Alexander Donnelly | Founding Executive Director
Hootenanny Twelfth Night, photo by Emma Wainwright, graphic by Victoria Ungvarsky
"PACKED WITH YOUNG TALENT. IN THE RISK-TAKING VENTURE THAT IS SUMMER FESTIVAL-GOING, ENCOUNTERING TALENT YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IS A WORTHY PAYOFF." - THE NEW YORK TIMES
“It’s inspiring to see any festival craft such essential work with this emphasis on community engagement.” - HYPERALLERGIC
Formed in 2017 in response to the erosion of New York City’s once critically vibrant Off-Off-Broadway/indie theater scene, Corkscrew Theater Festival’s mission is to reduce the steep financial and material barriers for early-career artists striving to produce work unreliant on traditional nonprofit and commercial models. Merging the institutional support of a theater company, the soul of a collective, and the energy of a festival, Corkscrew prioritizes new and underrepresented voices creating spectacularly eclectic, defiantly exhilarating, subversively jubilant theater.
Corkscrew selects each season through a free and open submissions process, culminating in a five-week repertory festival of five world premiere productions and five works-in-progress. We pay commissioning fees for mainstage shows, assist with physical production costs, and provide comprehensive dramaturgical, casting, and design support over our months-long developmental process. Corkscrew’s commitment to providing fiscal and creative resources supplants the usual limitations of festival settings, facilitating meaningful collaboration among a multiplicity of theatrical perspectives and offering audiences a unique mix of work across disciplines and development stages by artists they may not know—yet!
Corkscrew Theater Festival has been featured in The New York Times, Village Voice, Playbill, on WNYC, and more.