WP Theater Announces Two New Artistic Hires: Rebecca Martinez and Cori Thomas

WP Theater announced today that Rebecca Martinez and Cori Thomas will be joining the staff as BOLD Associate Artistic Director and Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence, respectively.

"In this time of uncertainty, it is such a gift to have good news to share!" said Lisa McNulty, Producing Artistic Director of WP Theater. "I absolutely can't wait to welcome these two extraordinary artists to the WP staff, and to continue the journey that began with our production of Cori's When January Feels Like Summer in 2014, and with Rebecca's tenure in the 2018-20 Lab. I look forward to all the ways we will grow, learn and make work together. We are so grateful to the Pussycat Foundation's BOLD Theater Women's Leadership Circle, and the Mellon Foundation's National Playwright Residency Program for making these positions possible, and for both Foundations' extraordinary support for the elevation of women+ leaders in the theater."

Martinez said, "I am beyond delighted to join Lisa, Michael and the whole team. As we move forward in this time of uncertainty for so many artists, I look forward to continuing the growth of our community and supporting the vital, innovative work that women+ artists of all backgrounds are making today and on into the future. I am grateful to the Pussycat Foundation and honored to be a part of the BOLD Theater Women's Leadership Circle."

"We are thrilled with the success of WP Theater in mentoring women to take on top jobs in the American theater," said Carol Dunne, Director of the Pussycat Foundation's BOLD Theater Women's Leadership Circle. "It is the foundation's goal that we change the face of theater leadership to include more women, and WP is quite literally making that change."

Thomas will be WP Theater's first Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence, through June 2023. She said, "there are few moments in my life that gave me a bigger thrill than hearing I would get to be the Mellon Playwright in Residence at WP Theater for the next three years. I am especially excited and inspired by this opportunity to spend the next three years playing and creating theatrical experiences with this company that focuses and lifts up the works of women+ artists. Thank you to the Mellon Foundation and thank you to WP Theater."

Rebecca Martinez (BOLD Associate Artistic Director) is a director, choreographer, deviser, facilitator and ensemble member of Sojourn Theatre. Originally from Denver, Colorado with deep ancestral roots in the Southwest, she's now based in Brooklyn, NY. Recent projects include: I Am My Own Wife (Long Wharf Theatre); Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Miss You Like Hell (Baltimore Center Stage), Wolf at the Door (Milagro Theatre, NNPN rolling world premiere), Anna in the Tropics (Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Henry Award for Outstanding Direction). Rebecca has worked with INTAR, Working Theater, Signature Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Lark, The Playwrights Realm, New Dramatists, the 52nd Street Project, Radical Evolution, Milagro Theatre, Oregon Children's Theatre and Brave New World Repertory Theatre among others. Member of: Sol Project Collective, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, INTAR's Unit52, SDCF Observer, Latinx Theatre Commons Advisory Committee, 2019 Audrey Resident, New Georges Affiliated Artist, 2018-2020 WP Lab, 2017 Drama League Directing Fellow, Member of SDC. She is the recipient of four Portland, Oregon Drammy Awards and the Lilla Jewel Award for Women Artists. Rebecca is an artist with the Center for Performance and Civic Practice where her work focuses on co-designed, cross-disciplinary social and civic practice engagement and invitation strategies. Rebeccamartinez.org

Cori Thomas (Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence) Is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Produced plays: Lockdown; When January Feels Like Summer; Citizens Market; My Secret Language Of Wishes; Pa's Hat and more. Produced and Developed at: WP Theater; Rattlestick Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Page 73, Ensemble Studio Theatre; City Theater Co. Pittsburgh; The Goodman Theater; Pillsbury House Theater; Mixed Blood; Horizon's Theater, Mosaic Theatre Co.; and others. She has won the American Theater Critics Osborn Award; Edgerton Foundation Prize; was a 2017 runner up for The Horton Foote Prize; is a two time Theodore Ward Prize winner. Cori is a New Dramatists Resident. She has been awarded Fellowships at O'Neill National Playwrights Conference; Sundance Theater Lab; MacDowell Colony; Bogliasco Foundation; Baryshnikov Arts Center; and more. Film and TV Projects include: Original screenplay for HBO Films and Tribeca Productions; JuVee Productions; and more. Cori is presently co-writing the memoirs of Sex Trafficking victim Sara Kruzan for Knopf/Random House. Founder: The Pa's Hat Foundation a 501(c)(3) in 2012. Pa's Hat is an organization focused on helping former child soldiers and other marginalized citizens of Liberia, West Africa with educational and work related assistance. Ongoing volunteer at San Quentin State Prison with the anti-violence program No More Tears. Board of Directors: of New Dramatists, Pa's Hat Foundation, Project FEEL, and No More TearsSQ. Cori is represented by Leah Hamos and Vernalis Co at The Gersh Agency and Eve MacSweeney at Fletcher and Co. Lockdown is scheduled for Spring 2021 at Milwaukee Rep.