Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor has named theater professional Hope Villanueva to its newly created literary manager position. In the new role, Villanueva will work closely with Artistic Director Scott Schwartz and Associate Artistic Director Will Pomerantz to shape the development of new work and new artists at Bay Street. A central goal of the position is to seek out and foster relationships with writers and theater artists from underrepresented communities in the theater world.
“We are thrilled to welcome Hope to Bay Street,” said Schwartz. “She is an innovative and talented leader in the world of new play development, and she will be a very valuable addition to our team. I can’t wait to see the plays and musicals she helps find and develop for our audience and community.”
Villanueva is an Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) stage manager who holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in playwriting. Her plays have been seen at Honolulu Theatre for Youth, the Next Act! New Play Summit, The Capital Fringe Festival, The Baltimore Playwrights’ Festival, The Black and Latino Playwrights’ Conference, The Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival, The Discovery New Play Festival, and The Kitchen Dog New Play Festival. She was invited to be a participant in the HMBG Winter Playwright Retreat in 2017, and her play, “The Veils,” received its first full production in February 2018 in Washington, D.C., as a part of the Women’s Voices Festival.
She is also a member of the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive and is the founder of the D.C.-based playwrights’ workshopping program, The Garden Script Development.