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This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council
About New Play Fest 2025
The New Play Fest 2025 is Subtext Studio TC’s new initiative to provide an abundance of opportunities to a diverse group of emerging playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, and actors. The festival will provide four plays and playwrights with 15-hours of development-focused hybrid rehearsals leading up to public readings with moderated post-show conversations in July or early August 2025. ​​
Meet the Playwrights
Isaiah-Zavion Boozer (TOUCH ME MY EXODUS)
Isaiah Zavion Boozer (he/him) is a Multifaceted Alkebulan artist, Playwright, Director, Actor, accolade achieving screenwriter, a 2021 United States Presidential Scholar semifinalist (appointed by the White House), alumnus of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, a 2021 National YoungArts winner as an actor, a 2022 TED speaker, a 2022 Kennedy Center Directing and Playwriting Intensive graduate, a 2023 Broadway Advocacy Coalition Cody Renard Richard Scholar, and amongst other things, a 2024 Sundance X YoungArts Fellow. Education: 2025 BFA in Playwriting (DePaul University)
Kidany Camilo (ABUELA'S FOLLIES)
Kidany Camilo (Any and All) is a Chicago-based theatre artist from Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They draw their artistry from their training in devised theatre, their fascination with exploring avant-garde movements, and the works of Federico García Lorca. Recent directing credits include: frikiNation (Urban Theatre Co.), The Pilón (The Understudy), and Gay Panic: Los Expulsados del Paraíso (Urban Theatre Co.). Recent acting credits include: Onilé Iyá (Aguijón Theatre), Fefu and Her Friends (Snails on a Bike), The Vote (Significant Productions). Education: MFA in Acting (Purdue University), BA in Theatre Arts (University of South Florida). Kidanycamilo.com
Lydia Moss (HERO GERO)
Lydia Moss (she/her) is an actor, playwright, and dramaturg who’s called Chicago home since 2020. Recent playwriting credits include Death of Eve (AMPLIFY New Play Commission), Ocean and Her Madness (Freshly Brewed - The Understudy). Recent performance credits include Performer/Mover in Briefly Breathless (Wondrous Strange; Steppenwolf Lookout Series), Mel in The Whole Seamus Thing (Bramble Arts Loft), Actor 3 u/s in A Tale of Two Cities (Shattered Globe). She's so grateful to this incredible team for bringing this work to life! Thank you!
Walter Todd (THE DEEP SEE)
Walter Todd (they/them) is a Black, non-binary, and early career playwright/director from Hobart, Indiana. They are a junior at Northwestern University from which they will receive a BS in Theatre in 2026. Their work contends with themes of identity, specifically how people use modes of performance to convey their identity. Their play The Deep See was first staged as a part of the Adaptfest Reading Series at Northwestern. Their play, Couch Surfing, a mix of narrative improvisation and sketch comedy, was also staged at Northwestern. Most recently their Black sci-fi superhero drama Hanged Men was staged as part of the Vibrant Colors Collective's In Living Color Festival. Outside of theatre they are deeply passionate about trivia, neurodivergence, and the sociopolitical state of the world.