Emerging playwright Malikah Stafford has been awarded the 2025 Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission. Sponsored by the Lee Strasberg Creative Center, the commission supports the development of an original play tailored for college-age actors each fall. Building on the legacy of The Group Theatre, the program provides an incubating space for the creation of true ensemble plays in New York City and cultivates the next generation of collaborating artists. Past commission recipients include Dan Giles, Lucy Thurber, Aniello Fontano, Lila Feinberg, Crystal Skillman, Sarah Gancher, Calamity West, and Dylan Guerra.
“Lee’s dedication to the American Theatre permeated all aspects of his life, and is at the very foundation of The Institute’s mission. Supporting emerging talents — not just the next generation of actors, but playwrights and directors — ensures a vibrant future for the American Theatre. The Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission does just that as evidenced by the many plays, collaborations and careers incubated by this program. We look forward to another decade fostering young artists and watching Lee’s vision come alive.” — Anna Strasberg, co-founder of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute
MALIKAH STAFFORD
PLAYWRIGHT
Malikah Marie Stafford is a television writer, playwright, singer, and poet from Atlantic City, NJ. After receiving her B.A. in Communication Studies with a minor in Africana Studies from Stockton University, she matriculated to New York University, and acquired her M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing.
With a background as a Black entertainment enthusiast, amateur astrologer, Beyonce fanatic, and former fanfic writer whose maladaptive fantasies turned into a writing career, Stafford routinely looks to her writing as a tool to make something shake in the world.
STEPHANIE ROLLAND
DIRECTOR
Stephanie Rolland is an NYC/NJ based director, creative producer, and arts administrator. Her work as an artist is fueled by connection, experimentation and laughter. She finds her joy in bringing multi-faceted, swirling, human universes together in space to make magic. She is currently the Director of Theatre Operations at Theatre Row in Midtown. She also co-founded Interfest, an *arts and ideas* festival focused on intersectionality and mutual liberation.
Rolland was chosen as a member of Theater Communication Group (TCG)’s inaugural Rising Leaders of Color cohort in 2016 and the Americans for the Arts inaugural Diversity in Arts Leadership Lab in 2018. Stephanie also served on TCG’s National Awards Committee and the League of Resident Theater’s Diversity Committee. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama.
ABOUT THE COMMISSION
The Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission is made possible by The Lee Strasberg Creative Center, a 501(c)3 dedicated to the continuation of Lee Strasberg’s legacy. The Creative Center supports the next generations of writers, directors, and actors through the preservation of Lee Strasberg’s work.
The commission is one of the Creative Center’s most successful programs. Over the course of its 12 year history, it has incubated over a dozen new plays from idea to full production, many of which have gone on to be further developed or performed by theatres in NYC and around the country. This collaboration has helped many students build lasting relationships with emerging directors and writers, and supported a robust list of playwrights that have continued to prove themselves as strong emerging talents in New York.