NEW YORK CITY: The Lark and Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation have announced the playwrights chosen for the second Venturous Playwright Fellowship. The plays and playwrights selected include Trigger by Sam Chanse,  Passing by Dipika Guha, and Incendiary by Dave Harris. The fellows will each receive an award of $50,000 over two years, and a Production Subsidy Grant of up to $50,000 to support a production of the play at a theatre of the playwright’s choosing.

“There was so much brilliance in the pool of nominated writers for these fellowships,” said Lloyd Suh, director of artistic programs at the Lark. “We’re living in intense times, and these are intense plays. They each explore urgent and vital themes—the criminal justice system, female rage, the emotional devastation of colonialism—in humane, unexpected, and deeply impactful ways.”

Chanse’s Trigger is a play about a teenage girl who, after seeing a childhood friend in a viral racist video, decides to reach out to her.  Passing, by Guha, follows an artist named Matilda who tells the story of a couple about to end their marriage when a young, injured girl enters their lives. Harris’s Incendiary is aboutTanya, a Black single mother as she attempts to break her death row-bound son out of prison.

During the two-year residency, the three playwrights will receive access to new play development and advocacy resources, including readings, workshops, writers’ groups, retreats, career guidance, and community engagement activities.

The Venturous Playwright Fellowship is part of the Lark’s portfolio of fellowships, which work to gather and design a cohort of diverse playwrights from across the country to tackle today’s most important issues.