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Producing and developing work by emerging playwrights that embrace the queer experience through authentic, modern, and innovative storytelling.

Introducing our 2025 season:
past // present // future

  • Dear friend, 

    2025 marks the 5th Anniversary of The Strides Collective. What began as a group of creatively ambitious emerging theatremakers creating virtual, audio theatre has exploded into a full-pledge nonprofit dedicated to developing and producing queer theatre for the stage. Since our inception, we have worked on and developed over 20 new plays, many of which have gone on to be produced and developed at some of the most prestigious theatres across the country. We are proud to have created a safe-haven for queer artists to tell queer stories in Philadelphia.

    However, everything feels different now. This past month alone the LGBTQIA+ community at large has faced hate and scrutiny on a level we have not seen in quite some time. And to be honest, we are scared. We join so many of our siblings around the country who are currently unsure about what the future holds for us. Each day represents new challenges. It is seemingly impossible to speak eloquently during this time of uncertainty. How do you make sense of the nonsensical? 

    With so much changing rapidly, one thing remains constant - we are not going anywhere. Queer people cannot be erased.  Existence is resistance. And so we shall exist. Loudly.

    Join us for our 2025 Season - Past // Present // Future - as we learn from the queer trailblazers of the past, boldly take up space in the present with daring new work, and dream up a brighter, more inclusive future with plays yet-to-be-written. We are proud to bring a full season of programming, from readings to workshops, to Philadelphia this year. 

    We welcome you to check out our programming below, and please mark your calendars for these events. We all believe in the power of community during these trying times, and we look forward to gathering with you soon. 

    Yours in solidarity and pride, 
    Jonathan V. Edmondson
    Founding Artistic Director
    he/him/his

    P.S. Did you know The Strides Collective is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit? Make a tax-deductible donation today to support vital queer storytelling. 

 

Season Sponsor: Giampolo Law Group

LGBTQ-Owned law firm serving the LGBTQ+ community, and those who love us! From Estate Planning, Adoption, and Divorce to LGBTQ+ Employment Discrimination.

 
billy gets a bloody nose
friend request
new strides
last summer at bluefish cove
2025 commission
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Strides Collective
Commission 2025

An inaugural new play opportunity

SYNOPSIS

The Collective conducted a months-long search to find a passionate and self-motivated queer playwright for our inaugural commission. As we seek to expand the theatrical canon of great, modern queer stories from queer playwrights, this commission is designed to support the entire development process of a play, from idea inception to completed draft of a full-length script.

Over the course of a year, our commissioned playwright will work with our artistic team to develop this work, to culminate in a reading presentation in Spring 2026.

Meet our Commissioned Playwright!

Sophie Brion Neely is a playwright from Orange County, California. Her work has been developed and/or showcased by Kearny Street Workshop, the Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Moving Arts, the Dramatic Question Theatre, and Amoeba Productions. Her plays have been selected as finalists or semifinalists for The Playwrights Realm’s Scratchpad Series, the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Dramatists Guild Foundation’s National Fellows Program, the Blue Ink Award, and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Ethnicity, Race, & Migration from Yale University and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania.

"Sophie's work stood out amongst 100 applications from emerging queer playwrights across the area, popping with creative specificity and a wholly unique voice. We believe Sophie's curiosity in chasing urgent realness and commitment to the multiplicity of queerness make her the perfect partner for Strides, and we cannot wait to see what play gets dreamed up in the month's ahead." - Jonathan Edmondson, Founding Artistic Director

“The Strides Collective’s mission aligns with my belief that we hold ourselves collectively accountable to write courageous theater for the present day… As the inaugural playwright for The Strides Collective Commission, I look forward to welcoming others to my version of that work - messy an imperfect, but still, a home I’m dedicated to inviting others into.” - Sophie Brion Neely

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