About – PRISM STAGE COMPANY

MISSION STATEMENT

Prism Stage Company seeks to engage audiences in works exploring what it is to be alive now by platforming playwrights, directors, and actors over 40, because “Talent has no expiration date.”

Where We Began

In 2010, director Benno Haenel and playwright Judith Estrine began a creative journey that culminated in the founding of Prism Stage Company three years later. The aim today is the same as it was then: to develop and produce new and overlooked plays by exciting playwrights over 40, performed by a majority of accomplished theater professionals primarily over 40, under the guidance of directors also over 40.

Why Age-Diversity Matters To Prism

As recently as 2020, more than half of the 6,000 global employers surveyed by AARP revealed that they do not include age in diversity and inclusion policies. For Prism, diverse backgrounds, designations, profiles, training, race and ethnicity are all included inside our lens-of-choice – artists over 40.

By 2022, more than one-third of the U.S. workforce will be over the age of 50. This challenges and excites our creative curiosity as we anticipate that the need to be seen and reflected through story and art will only increase.

We continue to build on and expand the knowledge and wisdom of our over-40 talent base by cross-referencing the classics with exposure to new plays by writers over 40 – written from this time, for this time.

Partnership with CreateTheater

Since 2022, we have developed a partnership with CreateTheater/ETC. CreateTheater has been helping writers develop and produce their work since the company was launched in 2016 by Cate Cammarata, an Off-Broadway producer, director and dramaturg. Please click here for more information about CreateTheater.

The Impact of COVID-19 and the Advent of Zoom

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prism pivoted to Zoom-based new play development and staged readings. We’ve re-discovered acquaintances, friends, and creative family across the United States as a result. While the thrum and excitement of in-person experiences can never be replicated online, we continue to explore new-found connections available thanks to technology that unites rather than divides us and consistently look forward to an ongoing hybrid of our two brave new worlds.

If you are interested in contributing to our effort in any of these arenas, please reach out via email to prismstagecompany@gmail.com. We’ll reach out as soon as we can. Thank you, and be well!

Judith Estrine, Executive & Artistic Director

Judith Estrine is an author and award-winning playwright. PINOCHLE & ROSES was a Semi-Finalist in the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and was produced at the Vital Theatre in New York. SHE&HE, a short play, won First Prize at the Nantucket Short Play Festival, toured nationally, and became a short film starring Anita Gillette. She co-authored “Raised by the Church” (Fordham University Press) and “Midlife: A Manual” (Element Books). Judith is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.