On The Radar

New Works Staged Reading Series

Chance’s On the Radar (OTR) New Works Program consists of a new script reading series, a playwright’s residency, and a commissioning program all geared towards supporting the creation of diverse new stories by emerging U.S. playwrights.

Chance’s On the Radar (OTR) New Works Program consists of a new script reading series, a playwright’s residency, and a commissioning program all geared towards supporting the creation of diverse new stories by emerging U.S. playwrights.

commitment to playwrights

The goal of OTR is to create a deep and long-term commitment to playwrights by offering them access to a community of artists and audiences, a supportive environment, and the freedom to explore their own boundaries and interests.

“Chance audiences are experienced, focused and eager to support experimental and challenging work. It was so useful just to hear the play in front of them – their engagement and reactions taught me so much.”

Jessica Huang, 2019 Resident Playwright

“Chance is serving a vital role in American theater, creating the kind of access point that allows people to attend, and participate, and take ownership of what’s on stage in a way that other, larger institutions just can’t begin to match.”

Jenny Connell Davis, 2016 Resident Playwright

“The Chance has been a warm and welcoming home to my work in Orange County and has been the launching pad to numerous works that have had a continued life across the country.”

Lauren Yee, 2015 Resident Playwright

Past Resident Playwrights include Benjamin Benne, Dustin H. Chinn, Keiko Green, Exal Iraheta, B.J. Tindal, Krista Knight, Jessica Huang, Joanna Garner, Ted Malawer, Jenny Connell Davis, Lauren Yee, Nick Jones, Marshall Pailet, Zayd Dohrn, and Adam Szymkowicz.

Meet Our 2026 Resident Playwright

Enid Graham

Enid Graham is a writer and actress living in New York City where she is a 2022 graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Program at Juilliard. Enid’s work was last seen at the Chance Theater last year when Tenderness and Gratitude Number Four was included in the OTR New Works Program. She is currently the 2026 Playwright in Residence. Her play Smoke was produced in the 2025 season at Cadence in Richmond, Virginia and How to Save Ourselves, a commission from the Farm Theater, received simultaneous productions from Sewanee College and Center College. Tenderness and Gratitude Number Four was also part of the Scripts in Hand series at the Westport Country Playhouse, and was a finalist for the Blue Ink Playwriting Festival 2025.

Her play A Long Time Ago in a Dark Yard at Night was performed in a 2022 reading series at the Hudson Stage Company, and her short play for Zoom, Do Not Go, My Love was performed in an online reading series, also at Hudson Stage. Golden was presented in audio format for The Falconworks Theater Company. What Martha Did received a preview production in the Launch Pad series at UCSB. Her play Ruth was chosen for the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Center and the New TACTics New Play Festival in NYC. What Martha Did was also a finalist for the National Playwrights’ Conference and a semi-finalist in the Blue Ink Playwriting Festival in Chicago.

Other plays include: Pathological Venus (2020 finalist NPC), Something Unrecognizable, The Plans I Have for You, and Saint Vegas (NPC semifinalist 2025) and Varenka by Miriam Leeds. As an actress, her credits include numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and Honour (Tony Award nomination), and Television/Film including The Sinner, Boardwalk Empire, Margaret, Mare of Easttown, Rabbit Hole, and A House of Dynamite.

2026 OTR New Works Staged Reading Series

2026 OTR Sponsors

National Endowment for the Arts

Amanda DeMaio
Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation
David & Danice Limberg
David & Judy Joss
Michael & Mary Lysik
Rachelle Menaker & Eddie Schuller
Steven & Louise Koch

Resident Playwrights

Benjamin Benne, 2025

Dustin H. Chinn2024

Keiko Green2023

Exal Iraheta2022

B.J. Tindal2021

Krista Knight, 2020

Jessica Huang, 2019

Joanna Garner, 2018

Ted Malawer, 2017

Jenny Connell Davis, 2016

Lauren Yee, 2015

Nick Jones2014

Marshall Pailet2013

Zayd Dohrn, 2012

Adam Szymkowicz2011

Fox Fellowships

Khanisha Foster2017

Want a list plays from past OTR Reading Series? Find them in our list of Past Productions.