Bestselling Author Tawni O'Dell Becomes NewYorkRep Playwright-in-Residence

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NewYorkRep plans to co-produce three to four O'Dell plays, with WINDOWS and WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU leading the slate.

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NewYorkRep has announced bestselling novelist and acclaimed playwright Tawni O’Dell as its new Playwright-in-Residence.

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Through the residency, O’Dell will collaborate with NewYorkRep on the creative and professional development of her new and existing theatrical work. The relationship will also include opportunities for creative production, public engagement, and institutional collaboration. NewYorkRep is currently planning to co-produce between three and four of O’Dell’s plays in relatively quick succession, beginning with two productions this fall and additional work planned for 2027.

“Tawni O’Dell’s work aligns with NewYorkRep’s mission to develop and produce theater that explores social and ethical questions, exposes our shared humanity, and inspires empathy, compassion, inclusion, and social change,” says Gayle Damiano Waxenberg, Founding Executive Director of NewYorkRep. “NewYorkRep could not be more excited to support O’Dell’s continued development as a playwright while also introducing theater audiences to the work of one of America’s most celebrated contemporary writers.”

NewYorkRep ’s first announced co-productions under the residency are Windows and When It Happens to You.

Following a sold-out New York presentation featuring Tony Danza and Tovah Feldshuh , O’Dell’s Windows was presented for two performances at Arizona Theatre Company ’s Temple of Music and Art in Tucson on September 10 at 7:30PM and September 12 at 2PM. NewYorkRep co-produced the Arizona engagement with MMaxwell Media, and Warren and Jale Trepp . Directed by Tony Award nominee Mitchell Maxwell , Windows was captured for streaming in 2027. Funny, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking, Windows is a series of vignettes reflecting on the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The play offers audiences a glimpse behind closed curtains as individuals from different walks of life navigate isolation, fear, loss, humor, and unexpected moments of self-reflection. Ultimately, they are led to a renewed understanding of what matters most: our connection to one another.

The fall slate continues with O’Dell’s When It Happens to You. NewYorkRep is co-producing the three-day Adelphi University Performing Arts Center engagement with MMaxwell Media. The initial presentation on Thursday evening, October 8 7:30PM will include a talkback with NewYorkRep Founder and Executive Director Gayle D. Waxenberg, Dr. Sam Goldstein , and Advocacy Partners working on the prevention and treatment of sexual assault survivors. Following a private October 8 performance for Adelphi University students and faculty, public performances are Saturday, October 9 at 7:30PM and Sunday, October 10 at 2PM. The production will be filmed for educational purposes. Based on O’Dell’s memoir, the play captures the immeasurable damage experienced by her daughter and their family following a brutal sexual assault. Blending humor with unflinching honesty, When It Happens to You asks a devastating and deeply human question: How does a normal, happy family recover from a trauma of this size and scale? Following acclaimed productions Off-Broadway and in London, When It Happens to You comes to Adelphi starring acclaimed British actresses Amanda Abbington and Rosie Day , with direction by Jez Bond . Proceeds from the performances will be donated to our Advocacy Partners supporting survivors of sexual assault and violence.

Additional productions and residency initiatives for 2027 will be announced at a later date.

After nearly two decades at the forefront of critically acclaimed literary fiction, New York Times bestselling novelist Tawni O’Dell (Playwright in Residence) has spread her writing wings to include film, podcasts, and live theatre. Her play, When It Happens to You, opened Off-Broadway in October 2019. Based on her personal experience, the theatrical memoir is about a mother's struggle to help restore a sense of safety and wholeness to her family after her daughter was the victim of a brutal attack. Her 2023 comedy/drama Pay The Writer, played New York’s Pershing Square Signature Center starring Ron Canada , Marcia Cross and Bryan Batt . Focusing on the complicated relationship between a legendary literary agent and his best friend-turned-most-successful client, O’Dell’s socially intuitive play explored how an artist’s life is controlled by their calling and talent. Tawni is the bestselling author of six novels including her latest, the coal town thriller, Angels Burning. Her first novel, Back Roads was an Oprah Winfrey Book Club selection and was made into a film with a screenplay adapted by Tawni. She also wrote and co-produced the popular audio drama, Rewrites. Her novels have been published in over forty countries and her writing has appeared in anthologies, magazines, and newspapers throughout the world.

NewYorkRep is a dynamic theater company dedicated to developing and producing new plays and musicals that inspire social change. By exploring humanity’s complexities and ethical dilemmas through compelling storytelling, NewYorkRep fosters empathy, compassion, and inclusion, using art as a powerful tool to illuminate critical social issues and spark meaningful dialogue. Recent recognition includes the Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for “New American Play,” Off-West End award nomination for “Best Production” at the Southwark Playhouse, the Bergen Record Top 10 productions of the year, and the Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for “Best New Play.”

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Tawni-ODell-named-Playwright-in-Residence-at-NewYorkRep-20260914)._