The Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) has announced the addition of two members to its board of directors. Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames have been chosen to serve.
DGF is the charitable arm of the Dramatists Guild union and supports theater writers of all varying experience. The board consists of dramatists, theater producing and marketing professionals and philanthropists.
Hwang, a three-time Pulitzer finalist, is the author of such works as “Chinglish,” “Yellow Face,” “Golden Child” and “M. Butterfly,” the latter for which he won the 1988 Tony for Best Play. In addition to his playwriting, Hwang is a prolific opera librettist. Hwang is a professor in the MFA program at Columbia University and a former chair of the American Theatre Wing. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2018 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021. In 2022, he was added to the Lucille Lortel Playwrights Sidewalk.
Ijames won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for his play “Fat Ham.” His body of work has been produced by the National Black Theatre, the Public Theater, Steppenwolf Theater and more. Ijames is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting and a winner of the Terrence McNally New Play Award. He is an associate professor of theater at Villanova University.
“On the stage, David and James write stunning and impactful stories that stay with you long after you leave the theater,” said DGF executive director Rachel Routh. “Off the stage, they work to shape a better future for those looking to tell their stories. We are thrilled and deeply honored to have their voices on our leadership team.”
Led by president Andrew Lippa, the board includes vice president Kevin Hager, secretary Michael Gordon, treasurer Susan Laubach, president emeritus Gretchen Cryer as well as C. Graham Berwind III, Elizabeth Dewberry, Gary DiCenzo, Louise Evins, Eleni Gianulis-Vermeer, Roe Green, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Donald J. Loftus, Barbara Olcott, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Peter Ratray and Doug Wright.
