Young Writers of Color Collective
Join our Young Writers of Color Collective (YWoCC) — a year-long playwriting program for emerging writers of color in grades 10–12.
For questions or more info, please email [email protected].
About YWoCC
Young Writers of Color Collective (YWoCC) aims to equip the next generation of playwrights with the tools necessary to give voice to their stories, struggles, and triumphs. Over the course of a year, selected high school students will participate in an intense study of playwriting, being taught and mentored by a range of professional Bay Area artists. Each student will be tasked with writing and polishing three original pieces as part of the apprenticeship — one of which will receive a professional staged reading. Through the spring, students will develop a one-act play. Excerpts of their final piece will be performed in a special event during the Ground Floor Summer Residency Lab alongside the Bay Area’s most sought-after actors and directors.
In addition to writing sessions, group events will be scheduled, including opportunities to see various Bay Area theatre productions and attend rehearsals for a new play being produced in Berkeley Rep’s season.
YWoCC’s main objective is to bring access, mentorship, and artistic training to Bay Area teens of color, while helping them build a relationship with a premier regional theatre company. YWoCC is born from the belief that it is no longer enough for those of us in American Theatre to say that we want a diverse and young audience without actually doing the work of making the audiences we seek truly believe there is a place for them in our theatres.
Free workshops
Calling all young playwrights! Berkeley Rep’s Young Writers of Color Collective will host free workshops open to all Bay Area high schoolers. All workshops will take place at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre.
Please check back for 2025/26 workshop dates.
Important dates
- Oct–May | Overall program length
- Mar | First workshop/reading
- May | Performance week
How do I nominate my student?
Nominations for our 2025/26 cohort will open Sep 2, 2025. Students may not apply on their own; each student must be nominated by a teacher or mentor.
Nomination requirements:
- Bay Area high school students (grades 10–12) who racially/ethnically identify as a young person of color are eligible to be nominated for this program. Upon recommendation, students will be invited to an interview process before final selection decisions are announced.
- YWoCC is a playwriting program, but writers of all disciplines are welcome to apply (i.e. playwriting, poetry, spoken word, fiction/non-fiction, etc.). No formal writing experience is required.
- Ideal applicants are highly motivated, serious-minded individuals who will commit to a year’s worth of training, meeting time, and mentorship, while maintaining academic success outside of the program.
What can my student expect to experience?
The Young Writers of Color Collective will offer:
- Mentorship | Students will receive direct mentorship from a working and produced BIPOC playwright, a BIPOC dramaturg, and the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre staff throughout this 9-month residency. They will also each have their new project workshopped and presented with professional directors and actors from the Bay Area’s robust artist community.
- Skill building | During their residency, students will meet twice per month to receive specific training in dialogue, character, conflict, and plot development. They will also learn new ways to play with form and style, within and beyond realism.
- Community building | Not only will students be working with members of their cohort, but they will also serve as hosts for our Open Saturday Workshops in which any student can come and experience a playwriting workshop with a local or national playwright. As they are finding new ways into sharing their stories, they will also learn how to open doors for their peers’ stories.