LOS ANGELES: IAMA Theatre Company has named Sanaz Toossi the recipient of the 2019 Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission. Sponsored by writer and producer Shonda Rhimes, the commission aims to support fresh, thought-provoking work from emerging playwrights with an emphasis on cultural inclusion.
“Sanaz is one of the best kept secrets in playwriting at the moment,” IAMA co-artistic directors Stefanie Black, Christian Durso, and Katie Lowes said in a joint statement. “She has a bold voice, a soaring heart, and she plays with language for the stage in a way we haven’t seen since Stoppard. We are thrilled to see what she makes next.”
Toossi, an Iranian American playwright from California, is the second recipient of the commission. A member of Youngblood at Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Clubbed Thumb Early-Career Writers’ Group, she was also a Page 73 2019 Playwriting Fellowship semifinalist. She is a proud child of immigrants.
