A Long Time Ago in a Dark Yard at Night

This new play will be presented as a reading. Readings are an essential part of the play development process. We are proud to offer this as part of our On The Radar (OTR) New Works Program that aims to support the creation of diverse new stories by emerging U.S. playwrights. Click here to learn more about OTR.

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ABOUT THE SHOW:
A Long Time Ago in a Dark Yard at Night follows two friends from a small Texas town who take divergent paths in life as they grow from girls to adult women, each fighting to find happiness, overcome significant life and socio-economic obstacles, and remain connected to one another in a world full of compromise. A play that is one part comedy, one part drama, and equal parts telling a very human and relatable story.

ABOUT 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.

This new play will be presented as a reading. Readings are an essential part of the play development process. We are proud to offer this as part of our On The Radar (OTR) New Works Program that aims to support the creation of diverse new stories by emerging U.S. playwrights. Click here to learn more about OTR.

2026 OTR Reading Series Sponsors

National Endowment for the Arts

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