Mashuq Mushtaq Deen Named Inaugural Recipient of NYU Tisch-New Dramatists Joint Commission

NYU Tisch School of the Arts and New Dramatists have established a new partnership ensuring the continued development and performance of new works.

Each year, the school will commission an alum or current member of the playwright development laboratory to write and workshop a play specifically for NYU students. The work will then premiere as part of the Graduate Acting program's annual season of productions.

The partnership marks the formalization of a longstanding tradition between the school and new playwrights, as the program routinely commissions and presents world premieres by established playwrights.

The first commission recipient is playwright Mashuq Mashtaq Deen, whose earlier works include Flood, The Betterment Society, and The Shaking Earth.

READ: Dael Orlandersmith and Mashuq Mushtaq Deen on How to Successfully Create and Perform Your Own Work Off-Broadway

His Tisch commission, to be directed in the 2019–2020 season by Johanna McKeon, is an exploration of mathematics, culture, and existentialism, derived in part from improvisation and research conducted with the students. An 11-day workshop included abacus and meditation classes and trips to Chinatown markets.