The Contemporary Drama Working Group (CDWG) was founded in the fall of 2012 by Takeo Rivera and Joshua Williams, both PhD students in the Department of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies (TDPS) at the University of California, Berkeley. The idea was to create a space in which to explore exciting new dramatic work by up-and-coming and established playwrights alike. With support from the Townsend Center for the Humanities and TDPS, Rivera and Williams were able to make their vision of a student-run new play reading series a reality.
For the 2013-2014 season, Caitlin Marshall – another TDPS graduate student – joined Rivera and Williams as a co-director of the Group, and helped to spearhead the establishment of a student-actor repertory company to perform in the Group’s readings. Her energy and enthusiasm were instrumental in taking CDWG to the next level. For the 2014-2015 season, Rivera and Williams collaborated with fellow graduate students Martha Herrera-Lasso and Miyoko Conley to continue the Group’s work. In 2015, the CDWG family expanded still further, with newcomers Kim Richards and Christian Nagler joining Herrera-Lasso, Conley and Williams to launch a fourth season of new play readings. Throughout, the tireless efforts of dozens of undergraduate actors and the support of TDPS’ incredible production staff and faculty kept the series humming along.
In its first three seasons, the Group has presented 25 evenings of new play readings, featuring 35 pieces by 27 amazing writers. The astonishing diversity of the work it has presented is a testament to the continuing vitality of U.S. theatre and the extraordinarily wide imaginative landscape it traverses.
2012-2013
Seán McKeithan, On Breathing In The Barrel
Joshua Williams, In The House We Haven’t Built
Karmia Cao, Nightmouth
Takeo Rivera, The Will To Knowledge
Will Gutierrez, Beautiful Monsters
Rachel Yong, The Peace that Passeth All Understanding
Christian Ting, 16 Cigarettes
Joshua Williams, Paleontology
Roger Q. Mason, The Duat
Joyce Carol Oates, Bad Touch
Robert Reich, Milton & Augusto
2013-2014
Amma Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin, Khalil Sullivan & Joshua Williams, At Buffalo
Krista Knight, Untitled Teen Hospice Play
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Go On Living
Cleavon Smith, Before The Shadows Of Night Are Gone
Richard Montoya, The River
Miyoko Conley, Starship Dance Party
Martha Herrera-Lasso, After
Julia Jarcho, Every Angel is Brutal
Ricardo Bracho, The Dweller
2014-2015
Will Gutierrez, Beautiful Monsters: A Hermaphrodite Love Story
Miyoko Conley, End of the World Place
Josslyn Luckett, imitation expert
Josslyn Luckett, rupture / runnin’ thru risk / runnin’ to bliss
Josslyn Luckett, chronicles of a comic mullata: an oreo/choreopoem
Martha Herrera-Lasso, Frente al Mar
Christopher Chen, You Mean To Do Me Harm
Aimee Suzara, A History of the Body
Lauren Yee, King of the Yees
Kirk Shimano, Android. Bishop. Microbe. Megan.
William Bivins, The Announcement
Mandy Hodge Rizvi, The Bake Sale
Takeo Rivera, Global Sweating
Takeo Rivera, Tamales
Joshua Williams, Zulu Station
Joshua Williams, The Bonapartes
Contemporary Drama Working Group 