The 53rd State Occasional No. 2
Each edition of the Occasional invites a guest editor to talk with artists, thinkers, and members of our community about questions that we have and topics that move us. For the second installment, Sylvan Oswald asks directors how they approach texts that are out of the mainstream of theater's conventions.
Will Arbery is a playwright, performer, and filmmaker from Texas + Wyoming.
His play PLANO will premiere at Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks this June. His play Evanston Salt Costs Climbing will premiere at New Neighborhood/White Heron this August. He's currently under commission at Playwrights Horizons. His play Wheelchair is being published by 3 Hole Press this June, with an introduction by Bill Callahan.
He's a member of The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, EST/Youngblood, a member of Calliope, and the recipient of a 2016-2017 Claire Rosen & Samuel Edes Foundation Prize for Emerging Artists.
His work has been developed at Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Cape Cod Theater Project, The New Group, EST/Youngblood, The Bushwick Starr, Theater Masters, Alliance Theatre/Kendeda, Tofte Lake Center, Calliope, The Watermill Center (with BOOMERANG), 100W Corsicana, Two Headed Rep and White Heron.
His play The Mongoose was an L.A. Times Critic’s Pick and winner of the 2017 Stage Raw Theatre Award for Best Playwriting. His dance work with BOOMERANG has performed at Steppenwolf, PULSE Miami, The Watermill Center, and MCA Chicago, and has been featured on Desus & Mero and Creators Project. Short plays at: EST/Youngblood, Williamstown Theatre Festival, JACK, Little Theater, #serials at The Flea, Samuel French OOB Festival (winner), Living Room Playmakers, American Theater Company, Hearth Gods, and more.
He's been featured in Purple Mag, Howl Round, I Interview Playwrights, and TDF Stages. His writing has been published by Better Magazine, Word Riot, decomP, The Awl, Howl Round, Timber, Neutrons Protons, Snow Monkey, and more. He was named one of Variety’s “110 Students to Watch.”
He's the former Writing & Research Assistant for Young Jean Lee.
MFA in Writing for the Screen + Stage from Northwestern University. BA in English & Drama from Kenyon College.
He grew up in Dallas, TX, the only boy with seven sisters.
