Megan Benjamin Bennett’s

A new play in development

Clos(in)g is a new musical by Megan Benjamin Bennett, developed through ALT’s Playwrights for Change residency program. Set inside a soon-to-be-shuttered apartment building, the piece explores family, love, and the constant act of code-switching to survive.

As neighbors face the loss of their homes, the story unpacks what it means to belong — and what’s at stake when communities are displaced. At its heart, Clos(in)g is about resilience, relationships, and the fight to hold on when the world tells you to let go.

What’s Coming Up

  • Act I Sneak Peek - November 2025

    Be the first to experience the opening act of Megan Benjamin Bennett’s Clos(in)g in a special preview event. A chance to see the play take shape before the full script is revealed, plus meet the playwright in person!

  • Full Script Reading - Spring 2026

    Join us for the first complete staged reading of Clos(in)g. Experience the story in full and add your voice during the post-show talkbacks. You get to help decide if the show will move on to a full production!

Meet the Creative Team

  • PLAYWRIGHT

    Megan Bennett is a born and bred New Yorker, attending prestigious junior high and high schools in Brooklyn. Meeting minds that would go on to be doctors, executives and entrepreneurs shaped her to become not just a playwright, labor leader, and poet, but someone that is always thinking about how to shape tomorrow.

    While on the surface Megan appeared academically successful (graduating from the University at Buffalo with a double major in English and Theater cum laude), behind the scenes every grade, word on the page and manifested idea was an uphill battle. She grew up in a community where most people were dependent on government benefits for survival, selling drugs was commonplace, and racial tensions between the Black and the Hasidic Jewish communities ran high. It was a childhood fraught with need, loneliness, and a desire for a better world. It created a woman with great strength, great vision, and a lot of inner battles to fight. 

    After graduating college, Megan Bennett went on to write four books of poetry; Love Story, War Story and Soul Story, a trilogy documenting her growth as an artist, and Black, a direct response to the social unrest brought on by the murder of Black people in America. During this time, she also wrote, directed, and produced a lighthearted web series entitled Plus One. In exploring other artistic mediums, she found that nothing can compare to a community of people sharing the same experience at the same time. She believes that now, more than ever, it is critical that we return to the theater to discover both ourselves and the world around us. Outside of her creative endeavors, she is employed full time in the labor movement, working every day to create a world where every member of the artistic community is supported, encouraged, and empowered to pursue their creative endeavors. 

  • PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, DESIGNER

    Matthew has successfully acted and directed across the country, in Europe, and in Asia.

    Matthew is proud to have served as a U.S. representative at the UNESCO
    International Theatre Institute Research Lab in Romania. He was named a Promising Artist of the 21st Century by the International Arts and Cultural Exchange, and he has published papers on directorial theory in international peer-reviewed journals. He has also been recognized as one of Cincinnati Business Courier’s Forty Under 40.

    His financial background includes serving as U.S. delegate to the People’s Republic of China for foreign business affairs and and serving on the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy USA Board of Directors.

Community Partners

Our Playwrights for Change productions grow stronger when we join forces with organizations who share our mission of equity, empathy, and community impact.

We’re always looking for partners to help us activate audiences, amplify dialogue, and connect the stories on stage to the work happening every day in our communities.

If your organization is interested in collaborating on Clos(in)g or future productions, reach out to our Arts Impact Program Director, Dora Bayliss, at dora.bayliss@americanlegacytheatre.org.

Support the Journey

Clos(in)g is being developed through ALT’s Playwrights for Change residency, supported in part by the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation. Your support helps us bring this bold new work from page to stage.