Clubbed Thumb Inc

FOUNDED IN 1996, CLUBBED THUMB COMMISSIONS, DEVELOPS AND PRODUCES FUNNY STRANGE AND PROVOCATIVE NEW PLAYS BY LIVING AMERICAN WRITERS.

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DISRUPTION CAUSED BY THE PANDEMIC, OUR SEASONAL PROGRAMMING IS COMPRISED OF THE FOLLOWING:SUMMERWORKS, A SEVEN-WEEK MINI-SEASON OF NEW PLAYS. IT IS THE MOST DYNAMIC, CREATIVE AND EFFICIENT MEANS WE'VE FOUND OF SERVING THE DUAL GOALS OF OUR MISSION: TO CREATE NEW WORK AND TO FOSTER AN EVER-GROWING ARTISTIC COMMUNITY. SUMMERWORKS FEATURES THREE FULLY-PRODUCED PREMIERES, CHOSEN TO FORM AN AESTHETICALLY DIVERSE CONSTELLATION OF NEW PLAYS AND READINGS OF WORKS-IN-PROGRESS FROM OUR EARLY-CAREER WRITERS GROUP. MANY NOW WELL-ESTABLISHED PLAYWRIGHTS, INCLUDING SARAH RUHL, GINA GIONFRIDDO, TANYA SARACHO, JORDAN HARRISON AND LISA DAMOUR MADE THEIR NEW YORK AND IN SOME CASES PROFESSIONAL DEBUT IN SUMMERWORKS. CLUBBED THUMB HAS RETURNED TO PRODUCING OUTSIDE OF SUMMERWORKS, ON VARIOUS SCALES, BOTH INDEPENDENTLY AND IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER INSTITUTIONS. NONE OF THESE ACTIVITIES HAPPENED IN IN-PERSON FORM IN 2021.THE CLUBBED THUMB BIENNIAL COMMISSION: EVERY TWO YEARS, WE OFFER AN OPEN-APPLICATION COMMISSION; THE CHOSEN PLAYWRIGHT IS AWARDED $15,000, AND TWO YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT. PREVIOUS AWARDEES & FINALISTS INCLUDE GREG MOSS, AGNES BORINSKY, ANGELA HANKS AND CLARE BARRON. AT THE END OF 2021, WE LAUNCHED ANOTHER APPLICATION.OTHER COMMISSIONING ACTIVITIES: THROUGH VARIOUS PROGRAMS AND FUNDING SOURCES (INCLUDING NYSCA, THE TOULMIN FOUNDATION, THE HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION, AND OTHER SOURCES), CLUBBED THUMB HAS ALSO COMMISSIONED PLAYS FROM ERIN COURTNEY, ANN MARIE HEALY, JASON GROTE, ETHAN LIPTON, JORDAN HARRISON, CARSON KREITZER AND OTHERS. IN 2021, WE WERE AWARDED A COMMISSION FOR MARA NELSON-GREENBERG. THE CLUBBED THUMB WRITERS RETREAT, A WEEK-LONG RETREAT AT TWO RIVER THEATRE IN RED BANK, NEW JERSEY. THIS PROGRAM DID NOT HAPPEN IN 2021.NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS: 10-12 PLAYS A YEAR (COMMISSIONS, WORK BY MEMBERS OF OUR WRITERS GROUP, AND WORK BY OTHER WRITERS) ARE DEVELOPED WITHIN VARIOUS PROGRAMS. DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES WERE LIMITED IN 2021, BUT WE DID WORKSHOP BIENNIAL COMMISSION-WINNING PROPOSALS BY JACOB PERKINS AND FRANCESCA PAZNIOKAS.OUR EARLY-CAREER INCUBATOR PROGRAMS INCLUDE: EARLY-CAREER WRITERS GROUP: STARTED IN 2013, EIGHT PLAYWRIGHTS, NOMINATED BY OUR MID-CAREER ALUMNI, MEET THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO READ AND DISCUSS THEIR WORK. THEY ARE PAIRED WITH MENTOR PLAYWRIGHTS, MEET INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS AND PEER ARTISTS, AND HAVE A PUBLIC READING OF THEIR WORK DURING SUMMERWORKS. THIS PROGRAM WENT ON-LINE IN MARCH 2020, AND THE GROUP THAT STARTED IN THE FALL OF 2020 WAS EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE. WE PRODUCED AN IN-PERSON FESTIVAL OF PLAY READINGS OF THE 19/20 AND 20/21 COHORTS WORK IN FALL 2021, AS WELL AS RESUMING THE PROGRAM IN A HYBRID CAPACITY WITH A NEW CLASS.EARLY-CAREER DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP: LAUNCHED IN 2015 TO ADDRESS THE SCARCITY OF DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIRECTORS, THIS PROGRAM PROVIDES A TRAINING INTENSIVE FOR 3 EARLY-CAREER DIRECTORS WORKING ON COMMISSIONED PLAYS UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND MENTORSHIP OF ANNE KAUFFMAN AND OTHERS, AS WELL AS CLUBBED THUMB STAFF, CULMINATING IN OUR ANNUAL WINTERWORKS SHOWCASE. THE EXPANDED 20/21 COHORT CREATED EITHER DIGITAL OR SOCIAL DISTANCED PIECES, BUT WITH SOME COVID-RELATED MITIGATIONS AND IMPROVISATIONS, WE RESUMED THIS PROGRAM IN A LARGELY IN-PERSON FORMAT IN IN FALL 2021.PRODUCING FELLOWSHIP:?STARTED IN 2016, THIS SEASON-LONG PRACTICUM FOR 2 CREATIVE PRODUCERS INHABITS A RANGE OF INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE, CULMINATING IN HANDS-ON ROLES IN SUMMERWORKS. WE BROUGHT ON A NEW PRODUCING FELLOW IN SEPTEMBER 2021, WHEN IN-PERSON PROGRAMMING BEGAN IN EARNEST. OUR 2021 PROGRAMING WAS DOMINATED BY ONE-TIME EFFORTS TO BOTH MAKE ART AND SUPPORT ARTISTS UNDER COVID- RELATED RESTRICTIONS: OUR EFFORTS INCLUDED:EAT YOUR FEELINGS: A THREE-PART INTERVIEW WITH CLUBBED THUMB ARTISTS AS THEY COOKED AND NAVIGATED THE COMPLEXITIES OF BEING A THEATER ARTIST WITHOUT IN-PERSON PROGRAMMING.THE WOMANS PARTY: A FULLY-FLEDGED 3-PART DIGITAL ADAPTATION OF A PLAY INITIALLY SET FOR IN-PERSON PRODUCTION, FEATURING TEN OLDER ACTRESSES AND AS MANY DESIGNERS WORKING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. THIS WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A CUSTOM WEBSITE THAT SHOWCASED ROBUST HISTORICAL RESEARCH AND INTERVIEWS WITH THE CAST. NON-SCRIPT-BASED COMMISSIONING AND GRANTING: WE SUPPORTED WORKS-IN-PROGRESS BY MANIK CHOKSI, HANNAH CABELL, MORGAN GREEN, ANDRES LOPEZ-ALICEA, RAPHAEL MISHLER, AND KIMIE NISHIKAWA.EXPANDED COMMISSIONING: WE ISSUED A LARGER THAN USUAL POOL OF COMMISSIONS FOR POTENTIAL WINTERWORKS PROJECTS, AND ADDED TO THE SUPPORT OF PREVIOUS COMMISSIONS (TO ARTISTS INCLUDING TRISH HARNETIAUX, LIZA BIRKENMEIER, AND JAHNA FERRON-SMITH). WE ALSO WORKED WITH OTHER PRODUCERS OF WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME, INCLUDING PLAYWRIGHT/PERFORMER HEIDI SCHRECK, TO OFFER $1,000 COMMISSIONS TO EACH OF THE 16 WRITERS IN THE 19/20 AND 20/21 EARLY CAREER WRITERS GROUP COHORTS.