New Federal Theatre's Founder
WOODIE KING JR.
Woodie King Jr. was a trailblazing American theater director, producer, and mentor who spent more than five decades expanding opportunities for Black and other underrepresented artists in the performing arts. Born in Bladon Springs, Alabama, and raised in Detroit, King’s early path included working as an arc welder and studying theater in Michigan before moving to New York to pursue his passion for dramatic arts.​
In 1970, King established the New Federal Theatre (NFT) in New York City, a company committed to presenting work by writers of color and women and training artists of color for professional theater careers. Inspired by the Black Arts Movement and named in reference to the historic Federal Theatre Project, NFT became a vital platform for staging important new voices and socially resonant plays, producing hundreds of mainstage works and nurturing generations of performers and playwrights.
Under his leadership, the New Federal Theatre presented influential productions including, Black Girl by J. E. Franklin, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, and The Dance and The Railroad by David Henry Hwang.
Woodie King Jr. has also operated workshops and training programs that helped launch the careers of numerous artists who became major figures in American culture, such as Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Chadwick Boseman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Issa Rae.
King’s career extended beyond NFT: he directed and produced work across the country, wrote for theater journals, and edited books on Black drama. His achievements were recognized with many honors, including an Obie Award for Sustained Achievement, induction into the American Theatre Hall of Fame (2012), the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre (2020), and multiple honorary doctorates.
Even after stepping down as producing director of NFT in 2021, King remained active on its board and in the broader theater community. He is remembered as a fierce advocate, mentor, and force who helped reshape American theater by broadening whose stories are told and who gets to tell them.
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