{"id":534892,"date":"2022-09-27T08:53:29","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T12:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=534892"},"modified":"2023-05-17T10:37:34","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T14:37:34","slug":"sam-chanse-play-premieres-at-sloan-performing-arts-center-534892","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/sam-chanse-play-premieres-at-sloan-performing-arts-center-534892\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Chanse play premieres at Sloan Performing Arts Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fellowship<\/em> is the latest production commissioned by the International Theatre Program as part of an initiative supporting early-career playwrights.<\/h2>\n

The world premiere of\u00a0Fellowship<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>takes place at the University of Rochester<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Sloan Performing Arts Center<\/a>. Commissioned by the International Theatre Program<\/a>\u00a0as part of its New Voice Initiative, the play was written by Sam Chanse<\/a> and first developed during her artist residency at Rochester in 2019. Chanse is a New Dramatists<\/a> resident playwright, a\u00a0past fellow at MacDowell, Cherry Lane, Sundance Theatre Institute, and Playwrights Realm, and has\u00a0taught writing and playwriting at Columbia University and New York University, in addition to Rochester.<\/p>\n

Fellowship<\/em> is the fifth production since 2005 to result from the New Voice Initiative, and was funded for 2019\u201322 by Natalie Hurst \u201974.<\/div>\n

The story, which incorporates elements of magical realism, revolves around a group of young college-age activists taking on an internship for a social justice organization, but the location they work from is haunted. \u201cSam Chanse\u2019s play is funny, perceptive, and timely. It touches on themes of identity and privilege, which are a part of today\u2019s cultural conversation,\u201d says Nigel Maister, director of the International Theatre Program. \u201cBut it does so by keeping a refreshingly irreverent eye on the foibles and dynamics of liberal pieties while not neglecting to acknowledge the sometimes-fraught history that gave birth to the need for them in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellowship<\/em> is the fifth production since 2005 to result from the New Voice Initiative, and was funded for 2019\u201322 by Natalie Hurst \u201974. The initiative, which brings early-career playwrights to Rochester to work with students, has funded past commissions including\u00a0The Puzzle Locker<\/em>\u00a0by W. David Hancock,\u00a0The Hairy Dutchman<\/em> by Andy Bragen, The Rochester Plays<\/em> by Spencer Christiano, and the musical Mother Courage and Her Children<\/em>\u00a0with music by Matt Marks.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommissioning new work for the theater is one of the most important things an academic institution can do,\u201d says Maister. \u201cI am thrilled we can bring this new work into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellowship<\/em> opens September 29 and runs through October 8.<\/p>\n