MINNEAPOLIS: The Guthrie Theater has announced Santa Monica-based theatre artist Larissa FastHorse as the recipient of the 2015–2016 Joe Dowling Annaghmakerrig Fellowship Award. Established in 2012 with the aim of recognizing historical and artistic connections between Minnesotan and Irish culture, the award offers a two-week residential retreat at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, Ireland.
“I’m thrilled that Larissa FastHorse is heading to Ireland to work on her new play through the Annaghmakerrig Award,” says Guthrie artistic director Joseph Haj in a statement. “Larissa’s voice is a powerful and important one, and it is an honor for the Guthrie to be able to support her work.”
FastHorse, an enrolled member of the Lakota Nation’s Rosebud Sioux Tribe, has written works for Cornerstone Theatre Company, Native Voices at the Autry, and Mountainside Theatre. A playwright, director, choreographer, and performer, she credits the Minnesota theatre scene as a strong influence on her development as an artist: “I saw my first professional play in the Twin Cities, bought my first real pointe shoes, saw my first ballet, and had my first play as a playwright produced there,” she says. “It is an exciting honor to be part of this new era of leadership at the Guthrie Theater.”