Martyna Majok

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Majok was born in Bytom, Upper Silesia and emigrated to the United States with her mother as a child. She grew up in a working-class, multicultural immigrant neighborhood; she recalls: 'My mother began learning English when she came over. Everybody was working similar jobs. They had factory jobs together; they were cleaning houses, and taking care of the elderly.' She went to public school. Majok won a playwriting contest for students from New Jersey as the only winner not from a private school that year; it was her first foray into drama. In high school, she wrote skits for an English language learning program for immigrant parents and children. At age 17, Majok was inspired by Sam Mendes' production of *Cabaret* at Studio 54, her first time in the theater, where she went with $45 she had won hustling pool. She attended the University of Chicago on scholarship, where she took drama classes. Initially unsure of herself, Majok began to take part in theatrical performances when she discovered Sarah Kane's plays in the library. She discovered that she preferred to write for the theater, in order to create roles she could identify with. To support herself, she worked as a waitress and personal caregiver for the disabled. She was also awarded the Merage Fellowship for the American Dream, an award for immigrant students, to help fund an education in writing. Majok then went on to attend the Yale School of Drama and the Juilliard School, all on stipends. She was a 2012–13 NNPN playwright-in-residence, the 2015–16 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at The Lark, and a 2018–19 Hodder Fellow at the Princeton University.

Reader's Guide

Majok is known for exploring underrepresented communities in her writing. She often gives voices to immigrants or displaced people, women with appetites and drives orbiting around their limitations, the working class, and persons with disabilities. Her work touches on class, yearning, loneliness and the journey towards connection with other human beings in America. While her subject matters can be tough, humor is important for her and Majok's characters brim with life and complications. Her women are strong and fight for their dignity. Reviewing her 2018 play *Queens*, an LA critic stated: 'Majok specializes in anti-sentimentality.' Talking about her working method, she emphasized: 'Workshops, whether in the "traditional" playwright-of-a-play method or in a room with artists and no script, are my favorite part of making theatre.' Discussing her inspirations, Majok pointed out her mother, and also said: 'Aside from being an amazing production, *Cabaret* was a story set in dark times. It was funny and sexy and inviting, and didn't compromise on any of that. That informs how I approach writing. People hear the description of my plays and say, "Oh, that sounds sad." And I swear to them that, actually, it's funny. My friend calls them hear-me-out plays.' Her breakthrough play, *Ironbound* (2014), depicts the illusion of the American Dream and fighting for a place in the world through the eyes of a hard-working, barely-getting-by immigrant woman, living in the industrial wastelands of New Jersey. It is based on experiences from the author's mother. The play was praised by critics, won several awards including the 2016 Helen Hayes Awards's Charles McArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play or Musical, and was featured in the top-ten of the 2014 Kilroys' List. *Ironbound* opened Off-Broadway in 2016 at the WP Theatre/Rattlestick. *Cost of Living* (2016), the winner of 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, explores the interactions of abled and disabled individuals. Majok takes a broader look at class division, financially precarious characters, and the delicate emotional balance of need and care. It played Off-Broadway in a Manhattan Theatre Club production at City Center in June and July 2017. Jesse Green of *The New York Times* wrote: 'in the play, two characters chafe against the way that a wheelchair, like color or language, can be a marker of disfavored status within the larger, normative society... it would be a mistake to see *Cost of Living* as an identity play about people with disabilities. Rather, it's a play about disabilities with people. In both of its stories, which eventually collide, the biggest handicaps are the universal ones: fear and disconnection.' This piece also won Outstanding Play at the Lucille Lortel Awards, got nomination for Outer Critics Circle Award's Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, and was featured in the top-ten of the 2016 Kilroys' List, among other accolades. *Cost of Living* has been produced around the world including in New York, Los Angeles, London, Toronto, Poland, Israel, and Cyprus. In 2018, *Queens* premiered Off-Broadway at the Lincoln Center's LCT3/Claire Tow Theater. The play encompasses 16 years during which documented and undocumented women of two generations and different origin live together, in a basement apartment in Queens, New York, trying to support each other in their struggle with everyday life. The choices they have made come back to confront them. *Queens* is being developed into an original series for HBO; Majok is penning the adaptation and is set to executive produce. In *Sanctuary City* (2020), she looks at a pair of teenage immigrants, one recently naturalized and the other undocumented, who hatch a plan to keep the latter in the U.S. The action takes place in Newark during the early 2000s when the DREAM Act was proposed and young immigrants hoped it might be a resolution to their uncertain status. 'DREAMers, friends, and lovers negotiate the promise of safety and the weight of responsibility in America.' Majok's story asks what we're willing to sacrifice for someone we love, she said: 'some of the things I'm exploring are the extent to which we help when we can, how much we are willing to care for and sacrifice for another person, and the cost of that, for both sides, particularly when coming from a world of limited means and guarantees.' *Sanctuary City*, produced by New York Theatre Workshop, had a world premiere Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in March 2020, but was suspended after a few days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It received an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. Majok's works have been presented and developed with many other theater companies, including La Jolla Playhouse, Round House, Kennedy Center, Geffen Playhouse, Fountain Theatre, and Steppenwolf Theatre. International productions include London, Toronto, Sydney, Poland, Israel, and Cyprus. Among her other accolades and fellowships, she received Hermitage Greenfield Prize Jury in Drama in 2018 (as first female recipient of this commission), New York Theatre Workshop's 2050 Fellowship, and Puffin Foundation grant. She is alumna of 2014–16 WP Theater Lab, Ensemble Studio Theater's Youngblood, and Ars Nova's Uncharted programs. She has taught playwriting at Williams College, Wesleyan University, and SUNY Purchase College; in education projects such as Primary Stages ESPA, and NJ Rep; and as an assistant to Paula Vogel at Yale. Publications: Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, TCG, Playscripts, and Smith & Kraus. In April 2021, it was announced that Majok would adapt F. Scott Fitzgerald's *The Great Gatsby* for the stage, with Florence Welch and Doveman writing music. In 2023, the musical, *Gatsby*, premiered at the American Repertory Theater with Rebecca Frecknall, with whom Majok worked on *Sanctuary City*, directing. The producers stated that 'Martyna and Rebecca are two of the most exciting theatre artists of their generation and, together, this extraordinary team brings a thrilling new perspective to one of the most culturally significant books of all time.'

Did You Know?

• Majok's first time in a theater was at age 17, seeing Sam Mendes' production of *Cabaret* at Studio 54, which she attended with $45 she had won hustling pool.
• She won a playwriting contest for New Jersey students as the only winner not from a private school that year.
• To support herself through school, Majok worked as a waitress and a personal caregiver for the disabled.
• She was the first female recipient of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Jury in Drama commission in 2018.
• Her play *Sanctuary City* had its world premiere in March 2020 but was suspended after a few days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.