Premiere Stages is proud to announce the recipient of the 2021-22 Liberty Live Commission, Tylie Shider. Congratulations Tylie!
Tylie Shider is a two-time recipient of the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center and an I Am Soul playwright in residence at the National Black Theatre. He holds a BA in Journalism from Delaware State University and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU.
Congratulations to Tylie Shider, recipient of the 2021/22 Liberty Live Commission. Tylie’s commissioned play, Certain Aspects of Conflict in the Negro Family, will explore a family’s internal divisions in response to the 1967 Plainfield, New Jersey riots. With tensions already at an all-time high between Newark residents and police, the arrest and assault of a black cab driver by police sparked protests and riots in surrounding communities, including Plainfield. The Plainfield riots resulted in three days of looting, arson, and protest, and the death of a police officer, the consequences of which impacted the community for decades to come.
The script will have a developmental staged reading in October 2021 and a full production of the play is tentatively scheduled for October 2022.
Premiere Stages is committed to supporting New Jersey playwrights through the development and production of new plays. Under the umbrella of the Premiere Play Festival, Premiere Stages produces Liberty Live, a biennial commission program for New Jersey writers, forged through a unique partnership with Kean University’s Liberty Hall Museum. Plays developed through the commission specifically explore events that helped to shape New Jersey’s history.
Check the submission guidelines. Submissions open in June 2022 and are due September 2022.