LA JOLLA, CALIF.: La Jolla Playhouse and the University of California, San Diego has launched a new commissioning program for UCSD MFA playwriting students upon graduation. The first two commissioned playwrights will be Steph Del Rosso and Ava Geyer, who graduated from UCSD in March.

“UC San Diego’s graduate playwriting program is among the very best in the nation, nurturing the voices of countless stellar alumni—including Jeff Augustin, Naomi Iizuka, Mat Smart and Lauren Yee, all of whom have been (or soon will be) produced at the Playhouse,” said Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley in a statement. “This new program strengthens the great bond between UC San Diego and the Playhouse, and guarantees that each MFA playwriting graduate will continue to have a relationship with us as they enter the professional world.”

La Jolla Playhouse is known as a developer of new work; it premiered Come From Away, which has run on Broadway since 2017.  The Playhouse and UCSD work closely together; they share four performance spaces and the Playhouse offers residencies to UCSD’s theatre graduates, where they can work on professional productions.

The Department of Theatre and Dance at University of California, San Diego offers BA degrees in theatre and dance, MFA degrees in acting, dance, design (costume, lighting, scenic, and sound), directing, playwriting, and stage management, and a Ph.D in theatre and drama offered in conjunction with the University of California, Irvine.