Foundry Alumni

Foundry (2022)

Jonathan Edmondson (he/him/his) is a playwright and director from the Greater Philadelphia Area. His work examines queer relationships by shattering stereotypes and emphasizing universal truths in our shared humanity. His queer two-hander, Whirlpool, premiered at the 2019 Jersey Fringe Festival before playing at The Iron Factory during 2020 Philly Theatre Week. His other work includes Strides, Expressed // Suppressed, Drowning, and Framed. As a director, he has led both small plays and large musicals at theatres throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Currently, he serves as the Development Manager at Arden Theatre Company. He holds a BA in Journalism and Professional Writing from The College of New Jersey and is a proud alumnus of the Arden Professional Apprentice Program (Class 25).

Foundry Alumnus (2015)

Mark Costello is a professional playwright and teacher based in Philadelphia. He holds an MFA in playwriting from Temple University and is a proud graduate of the Foundry. Nationally, his plays have been presented by theatres in Texas, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Maryland, and he has developed work with Write Now! and the Great Plains Theatre Conference. Closer to home, he has had a number of plays produced through different groups and festivals, such as PTC@Play, Juniper Productions, the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, the White Mountains Project, and Villanova Theatre.

Foundry Alumnus (2017)

Bill D’Agostino is a playwright, educator, dramaturg, and arts administrator. Bill’s plays for kids include the Murray the Elf series, Rosie the Reindeer and the Case of the Stolen Snow Globe, Sleeping Handsome, My Very Own Polar Bear, and Zuzz the Alien Needs Your Help! at Act II Playhouse; Imaginary, Teen Sherlock, Robin Hood, and Fairy Tale High School at Montgomery Theater; and Making Gnocchi with Grandma, which was a semifinalist in the Write Now competition. His short plays Disclosure and Out of Time were produced by Juniper Productions in their popular Cocktail Plays fringe shows. Juniper also produced a night of his short plays at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, part of The New ROI Experience. Bill was the producer of The White Mountains, a theatre project based on the industrial legacy of Ambler, Pennsylvania, which received a 2015 Philadelphia Geek Award. He received his MA in theatre from Villanova University, and his bachelor’s degree in theatre from Brown University. He lives in Bryn Mawr with his wife, Carrie and his daughters, Celia and Anya.

Foundry Member, Foundry Alumnus (2016)

Lena Barnard is a playwriting M.F.A candidate at the University of Texas at Austin. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she spent six years making theater in Philadelphia before landing in Austin. Her work has been presented in the SoLow Festival, Azuka Theatre’s Spotlight Series and PlayPenn New Play Development Conference. She was a member of the second class of the Philadelphia playwright’s lab, the Foundry @ PlayPenn. For the past three years she was an administrator of the SoLow Festival, an annual DIY experimental theater festival for new solo work in Philadelphia. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.

Foundry Member, Foundry Alumnus (2014)

Bruce Walsh graduated from Indiana University with an MFA in playwriting in 2017. Since then his plays have been presented by Azuka Theatre, Outpost Repertory Theatre, Fat Turtle Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, where he won the 2017 Heideman Award, and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he won the Gary Garrison National Ten Minute Play Award. Before attending IU, he lived in Philadelphia for over a decade, working as an arts journalist, site-specific theater maker, UPS package sorter, bike messenger, disastrously confused fine dining waiter, substitute teacher, and playwright. He is currently a proud member of the Azuka Theatre New Pages Program. He lives in Elizabethtown, PA, where his wife, Jennie, is a mental health counselor at Elizabethtown College, and his son, Henry, enjoys cupcakes, Robocar Poli, and waving at fire trucks.

Foundry Member, Foundry Alumnus

Douglas Williams‘ plays have been produced and developed at PlayPenn, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Azuka Theatre, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, The Foundry & The Painted Bride, among others.

He is the Playwright-In-Residence at Azuka Theatre who has produced three of his plays, including the upcoming SHIP.

His play Shitheads was recommended for the Harold & Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and was the winner of 4 Philadelphia Critics’ Awards including Best New Play & Best Overall Production.

Foundry Member, Foundry Alumna (2012)

Cheril N. Clarke is a multi-faceted writer whose body of work encompasses a unique blend of creative and business writing. Beginning her career 20 years ago as a creative writer, she has since written five novels, several e-books, multiple children’s books, and award-winning stage plays. Cheril has been featured in numerous publications and media outlets, including: The Philadelphia Women’s Journal, Curve Magazine, About.com, National Public Radio, The Princeton Packet, Philadelphia Gay News, Out IN Jersey, Burlington County Times, and Phillyburbs.com.

Foundry Member

Robynne Graffam is a Philadelphia-based teacher and writer. Her plays have been read or developed through The Bechdel Group, The Storefront Theater, ETC Theater Company and the Inkubator New Works Development Lab.  Her play A Rising Tide (Lifts All Boats)  was named as a finalist for the B Street Theater New Comedies Festival, and her short play The Penis Play was produced as part of the Academy of Art University’s One Act Festival. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and The Foundry.  Her work is available on NPX.