23rd Annual New American Play Festival

Playwright of UMOJA

LADARRIAN WILLIAMS hails from the small town of Helena, Alabama, LaDarrion Williams is a self-taught playwright, filmmaker, author, and screenwriter committed to shaping a new era of Black fantasy. His theatrical work has garnered attention at notable venues, including the Echo Theatre Playwrights Lab, the Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, TSU’s Black and Latino Playwrights Festival, and the Boise Contemporary Theater BIPOC Playwrights Festival.

An esteemed alum of the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, LaDarrion’s play Hurt People was selected for the 2024 conference, further solidifying his place as a bold and necessary voice in contemporary theater. His play Coco Queens was featured in the 2019 Sundance Institute’s Playwriting Intensive, won the New Works@theWorks Playwriting Award, and celebrated its world premiere at Playhouse on the Square in July 2024.

His Jeff Award-nominated play Boulevard of Bold Dreams—a poignant exploration of Hattie McDaniel’s historic Oscar win—debuted at TimeLine Theatre Company in Chicago, had its East Coast Premiere at Greater Boston Stage Company in March 2023, and was part of the Orlando Shakes Theater Signature Series in October 2023, with plans for national productions in 2024-2025.

Beyond theater, LaDarrion has directed three short films featured on YouTube and made his mark as a debut author with Blood at the Root, a New York Times and USA Today Bestseller. Through storytelling across multiple mediums, he continues to craft narratives that amplify Black voices, history, and imagination.

Playwright of Sanctuary

TIM BOLAND'S original play, In the Name of the People, was the full play winner of the Acme Acting Company’s Think Annual New Play Festival, where it received its world premiere at the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach. It went on to receive its West Coast premiere with The Road Theatre Company of Los Angeles. He adapted In the Name of the People for film for CBS Productions, featuring Scott Bakula, Amy Madigan, and Richard Thomas.

He wrote the one-act play, Acceptance Speech, which was part of a bill of one-acts titled Take Three, directed by Paul Lazarus, at the No Smoking Playhouse in NYC. Night Voices, six of his one-acts, was produced in San Francisco at Shelton Street Theatre. Love Mad received its world premiere at the Cast Theatre in Los Angeles, where it enjoyed an extended run.

Divorce Honeymoon received public staged readings in Florida and Los Angeles. The House received a public staged reading at Burbank’s Little Victory Theatre. Hail to the Chief received a weekend of public staged reading production with Brave New Productions in Montreal, Canada.

Happy Thanksgiving was named co-winner of the Long Beach Playhouse 2018 New Works Festival, where it received a public staged reading. Happy Thanksgiving then received a workshop, three-performance enhanced staged reading at Spotlight Vermont in 2024.

Sanctuary won the 2018 Third Place Prize for Infinitheatre’s Write-On-Q playwriting contest. Semifinalist Eugene O’Neill 2019 National Play Conference and 2019 Ashland New Play Festival. Wealth was a 2020 Eugene O’Neill NPC Semifinalist. Renounce was a Road Theatre Company Semifinalist SPF 2024.

Plato’s Baby was a Final Selection for Charlottesville’s Live Arts 2025 WaterWorks Festival, where it received a two-performance staged reading.

A Dramatists Guild of America, WGA member and New Play Exchange member.