Guest Artists

Since its inception in the 1970s, the Iowa New Play Festival has brought guest artists to campus to meet with students. Festival special guests attend all performances and give feedback to the creative team for each show, especially the playwright. The feedback is given in roundtable discussions following each reading and on the morning after each production or workshop. These roundtables help the playwright and his or her collaborators see their work in a professional context.

The following guests will join us for Iowa New Play Festival 2024:

meet this year's guest artists
LYNDE ROSARIO Lynde Rosario (she/her/hers) is a Dramaturg and the Director of Fellowship Programs at Playwrights’ Center. She is also the President of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Current and former affiliations include: National New Play Network, The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, The Latinx New Play Festival, The Playwrights Realm, Working Theater Company, Unicorn Theatre, TheatreLab, Curious Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, The Catamounts, Local Theater Company, Creede Repertory Theater, Athena Project, Letter of Marque Theater Company, and The Anthropologists.
EMMANUEL WILSON DG staff playwright, Emmanuel Wilson joined the staff of the Dramatists Guild in 2017 and current serves as Co-Executive Director. He manages member service and programming for America’s professional playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists. Emmanuel also oversees the Guild’s industry outreach, strategy, and communications. He is the proud parent of Faith and Imani Wilson. A playwright, producer, and lifelong resident of New York City, Emmanuel founded The Blue Rose Stage Company at age 18, serving as its artistic director for six years. At TADA! Youth Theater, Emmanuel served as artistic associate and literary manager, commissioning and supporting new works from writers including Stephen Schwartz, Lisa Diana Shapiro, and Eric Rockwell. While at TADA, Emmanuel assisted in organizational and season planning, and produced a playwriting contest and reading series for teens. In 2003, he was selected as a New Generations Future Leader by Theater Communications Group. This multi-year fellowship, designed to "cultivate and strengthen a new generation of future theatre leadership" was supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
CARSON GRACE BECKER Carson Grace Becker is an award-winning, nationally produced playwright, screenwriter, dramaturg and arts educator. She earned her MFA from the University of Iowa, and her BA from UCLA. Currently, she serves as the Artistic Director with the Chicago Dramatists. She has taught at Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt University, and the Graham School. She served as Literary Manager at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and is the founder of the The Root & Bloom Collective, a Humanities non-profit housed at the historic Clark Chateau in Butte, Montana.
KEITH JOSEF ADKINS Keith Josef Adkins is a playwright, screenwriter and artistic director. His Great Migration play, The West End, had its world premiere at Cincinnati Playhouse and was a finalist for the 2022 Steinberg-ATCA New Play Award. Keith's other plays include The People Before the Park, Safe House, Pitbulls, the Last Saint on Sugar Hill, The Heat Will Kill Everything, and he has been produced Off-Broadway and regionally. He’s the recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, Samuel French's Award for Impact and Activism in the Theater Community, Prelude’s Frankie Award as well as National Black Theater's Teer Spirit Award. He is the artistic director of The New Black Fest, a 13-year-old theater organization committed to fostering insurgent voices from the African Diaspora. The New Black Fest was in residence at the Lark Play Development Center for six years and has commissioned three social justice anthologies, including Facing Our Truth and Hands Up -- both published by Samuel French/Concord Theatrical. A fourth anthology about the new Harlem Renaissance will be published in 2024 by Concord Theatrical. Keith has sat on numerous selection committees for NYC and national grants/fellowships. Some of his TV credits include Accused, P-Valley, Outer Banks, The Good Fight. He's also developed TV projects with JJ Abrams, Don Cheadle/Steven Soderbergh and Regina King. His horror film Run Sweetheart Run is available on Amazon.

meet this year's guest artists

LYNDE ROSARIO

Lynde Rosario (she/her/hers) is a Dramaturg and the Director of Fellowship Programs at Playwrights’ Center. She is also the President of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Current and former affiliations include: National New Play Network, The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, The Latinx New Play Festival, The Playwrights Realm, Working Theater Company, Unicorn Theatre, TheatreLab, Curious Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, The Catamounts, Local Theater Company, Creede Repertory Theater, Athena Project, Letter of Marque Theater Company, and The Anthropologists.

EMMANUEL WILSON

DG staff playwright, Emmanuel Wilson joined the staff of the Dramatists Guild in 2017 and current serves as Co-Executive Director. He manages member service and programming for America’s professional playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists. Emmanuel also oversees the Guild’s industry outreach, strategy, and communications. He is the proud parent of Faith and Imani Wilson.

A playwright, producer, and lifelong resident of New York City, Emmanuel founded The Blue Rose Stage Company at age 18, serving as its artistic director for six years. At TADA! Youth Theater, Emmanuel served as artistic associate and literary manager, commissioning and supporting new works from writers including Stephen Schwartz, Lisa Diana Shapiro, and Eric Rockwell. While at TADA, Emmanuel assisted in organizational and season planning, and produced a playwriting contest and reading series for teens. In 2003, he was selected as a New Generations Future Leader by Theater Communications Group. This multi-year fellowship, designed to "cultivate and strengthen a new generation of future theatre leadership" was supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

CARSON GRACE BECKER

Carson Grace Becker is an award-winning, nationally produced playwright, screenwriter, dramaturg and arts educator. She earned her MFA from the University of Iowa, and her BA from UCLA. Currently, she serves as the Artistic Director with the Chicago Dramatists. She has taught at Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt University, and the Graham School. She served as Literary Manager at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and is the founder of the The Root & Bloom Collective, a Humanities non-profit housed at the historic Clark Chateau in Butte, Montana.

KEITH JOSEF ADKINS

Keith Josef Adkins is a playwright, screenwriter and artistic director. His Great Migration play, The West End, had its world premiere at Cincinnati Playhouse and was a finalist for the 2022 Steinberg-ATCA New Play Award. Keith's other plays include The People Before the Park, Safe House, Pitbulls, the Last Saint on Sugar Hill, The Heat Will Kill Everything, and he has been produced Off-Broadway and regionally. He’s the recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, Samuel French's Award for Impact and Activism in the Theater Community, Prelude’s Frankie Award as well as National Black Theater's Teer Spirit Award. He is the artistic director of The New Black Fest, a 13-year-old theater organization committed to fostering insurgent voices from the African Diaspora. The New Black Fest was in residence at the Lark Play Development Center for six years and has commissioned three social justice anthologies, including Facing Our Truth and Hands Up -- both published by Samuel French/Concord Theatrical. A fourth anthology about the new Harlem Renaissance will be published in 2024 by Concord Theatrical. Keith has sat on numerous selection committees for NYC and national grants/fellowships. Some of his TV credits include Accused, P-Valley, Outer Banks, The Good Fight. He's also developed TV projects with JJ Abrams, Don Cheadle/Steven Soderbergh and Regina King. His horror film Run Sweetheart Run is available on Amazon.