Drama Staff Spotlight: Krista Williams

Krista Williams, Juilliard's playwrights program manager, recently spoke with Annie Abramczyk, artistic programs assistant of the Drama Division, about her journey and insights into dramaturgy and literary management. The following interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

By Annie Abramczyk
Krista Williams joined Juilliard last year as the playwrights program manager. She is a dramaturg who spent the past decade at The Lark, where she developed plays with more than 100 playwrights—many of whom have been nominated for Tonys, won Pulitzers, received MacArthur Fellowships, and been produced on Broadway and internationally. Williams is a story consultant for multiple television and film projects and has served as literary manager for Off-Broadway company Transport Group and literary associate for Yale Repertory Theatre. She has worked on projects with New Dramatists, OSF’s Play On! series, New Georges, Next Chapter Podcasts, Page 73, Invisible Dog, Dixon Place, TCG, Denver Center Theatre’s New Play Summit, Hedgebrook, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She’s also participated in artEquity's facilitator training, and has been a guest lecturer at Hunter College and the New School—School of Drama, and is on the summer theater faculty at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Williams holds an MFA in dramaturgy from Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her two children and dog.

What sparked your interest in dramaturgy and literary management? And what other influences were critical to your formation as a theater artist?
I wish I could say it was a sophisticated impulse to study dramatic structure or a literary commitment to theater history, but honestly, I realized that most of my favorite people were playwrights. The playwrights I have been lucky enough to work with share incredible qualities: an omnivorous curiosity, deep world-building impulses, and what I often interpret as a need to be seen without being looked at—something that makes profound sense to me. Playwrights privately write literature that will outlive them and then communally participate in ephemeral productions of that literature that are vulnerable to the vagaries of the industry. And that’s the challenge that has my attention: that transition between (and duality of) solitary and communal work. Transitions have always been some of the most challenging moments in life for me. They’re moments of unknown, but they can also be moments of unpredictable expansion. It can be a vulnerable time, and supporting that transition is my focus. That’s the kind of work I did at The Lark for most of the last decade, and it’s part of what I get to continue to do at Juilliard. The school has set up a program for playwrights that operates with a lot of intentional care. I feel so lucky to be working with Evan Yionoulis [Richard Rodgers dean and director of the Drama Division] and David Lindsay-Abaire (Playwrights ’98) and Tanya Barfield (Playwrights ’02) [co-directors of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program].

What made you most excited to come to Juilliard?
Before arriving, I had already worked with almost a quarter of all the alumni from the playwriting program, so I knew I was drawn to many folks who came through this school. Juilliard’s reputation is unmatched in the field, but what’s really thrilling about it is sitting in the rooms where so many playwrights I know and love struggled through early drafts and heard their pages read aloud for the first time.

I think about the community at Juilliard in two ways: horizontally, with cohorts collaborating in real time, and vertically, with the rich history that you can feel in a different way with the influences of everyone who came before. The years when Marsha Norman and Chris Durang [longtime co-directors of the program] and all their students were here—I wasn’t here then, but at risk of sounding wildly sentimental, it sure still feels like they’re still here. And I love that.

What has been your favorite part of Juilliard thus far?
Definitely class days. When a new play is shared, I feel like a kid on Christmas. It’s such a thrill to see those messy early pages—a whole new world that did not exist before!

Since starting this position, you have connected with many playwriting alumni. What are some ways you hope to connect in the future?
Recently, many alumni gathered to honor Marsha Norman, and seeing everyone together was like witnessing a family reunion across generations. I would love to identify more ways for the playwriting alumni to stay involved with Juilliard’s work. They have a unique perspective, having been through the program themselves, but also, they are a formidably talented and lovely group of humans.

Annie Abramczyk is the Drama Division’s artistic programs assistant.

A version of this article also appeared in the drama alumni newsletter. If you’d like more information about the newsletter, please contact [email protected].