Meet the 2017-18 McKnight Fellows in Playwriting

Please help us welcome the 2017-18 McKnight Fellows in Playwriting, Benjamin Benne and Rachel Jendrzejewski.

The McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting awards two Minnesota-based playwrights a $25,000 stipend, $2,500 to support play development and other professional expenses, and $1,400 in travel funds. Past recipients include Carlyle Brown, Lisa D’Amour, Barbara Field, Keli Garrett, Jeffrey Hatcher, Christina Ham, Cory Hinkle, Carson Kreitzer, Melanie Marnich, Greg Moss, Kira Obolensky and Dominic Orlando.

About the 2017-18 McKnight Fellows in Playwriting:

BENJAMIN BENNE

Benjamin Benne was previously a 2016-17 Playwrights’ Center Many Voices Fellow. He has been a finalist for the Princess Grace Award, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Austin Playhouse's New Works Festival, and a semi-finalist for the Blue Ink Playwriting Award. His work has been produced and/or developed with The Lark Play Development Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre, Annex Theatre, Forward Flux Productions, Umbrella Project, and Parley, among others. His plays include Terra Incognita, at the very bottom of a body of water and q u e r e n c i a: an imagined autobiography about forbidden fruits.
www.benjaminbenne.com

RACHEL JENDRZEJEWSKI

Rachel Jendrzejewski moved to Minneapolis as a Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow in 2011. She frequently works with choreographers, musicians, visual artists, fellow writers, and alleged non-artists to explore new collaborative vocabularies. Her plays and performance texts have been produced by the Walker Art Center, Red Eye Theater, Public Functionary, Padua Playwrights, Wild Project, and ICA/Boston, among others. In 2016, her play “encyclopedia” was published by Spout Press. Honors include a Playwrights’ Center Core Writer Residency, a MASS MoCA Residency, and grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Network of Ensemble Theaters, and Foundation for Contemporary Arts. MFA Playwriting, Brown University.
rachelka.com