Festival

The 41st William Inge Theatre Festival

The 41st William Inge Theatre Festival is set to take place from April 18th to April 20th, 2024, at Independence Community College in Kansas. This prestigious event brings together playwrights, directors, actors, and theatre artists from across the nation for three days of new play readings, discussions, and workshops.

A highlight of this year’s festival is the honoring of Lauren Gunderson with the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in American Theater Award. Gunderson, recognized as one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015, joins an illustrious roster of playwrights who have been celebrated at the festival. Notable past honorees include Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Wendy Wasserstein, David Henry Hwang, and August Wilson.

The festival will feature a “Conversation with the Playwright,” where Dramaturg Martine Kei Green Rogers, Dean of the Theatre School at DePaul University, will interview Gunderson. This event is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 20th, at the William Inge Theatre on the campus of Independence Community College.

Attendees can look forward to a diverse program, including readings of new plays during the New Play Lab, performances of Gunderson’s acclaimed work “The Revolutionists,” and various workshops and social events.

Lauren Gunderson’s accolades include being a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for “I and You” and “The Book of Will,” as well as being the recipient of the Lanford Wilson Award. She has also been a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Aside from her achievements in playwriting, Gunderson is also a screenwriter, musical book writer, and children’s author based in San Francisco. She graduated from NYU Tisch as a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship.

For more information about Lauren Gunderson and her work, you can visit LaurenGunderson.com.

Information about past festivals…