Playwrights’ Center and McKnight Foundation Announce the McKnight Theater Artist Fellows

Playwrights’ Center and McKnight Foundation Announce the McKnight Theater Artist Fellows

Artists from multiple disciplines are represented and celebrated in the 2022-23 McKnight National Theater Artist Cohort

MINNEAPOLIS (June 3, 2022) — The McKnight Theater Artist Fellowships at the Playwrights’ Center recognize theater artists other than playwrights. The intent of the program is to recognize and support mid-career artists living and working in Minnesota who demonstrate a sustained level of accomplishment, commitment, and attributes of artistic merit. The $25,000 fellowships are intended to significantly advance recipients’ art and careers.

The 2022-2023 McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship recipients are Meghan Kreidler, Greta Oglesby, and Wendy Weckwerth. "I'm so thrilled to welcome these three brilliant artists back to the Playwrights' Center family,” said Playwrights’ Center Producing Artistic Director Jeremy B. Cohen. “Each of them have been such a vital part of the Minnesota arts community for so long, and I couldn't be more thrilled that we are celebrating them and their work at this time."

For actor Meghan Kreidler, the opportunity is the culmination of a dream. “This fellowship is so validating to me as an artist. It is a reminder of all of the hard work I've put in over the years and an invitation to continue exploring my own voice and creative ideas.”

Speaking to its broader impact, actor Greta Oglesby remarks: “Fellowships like the McKnight are so important, because it allows theater artists the opportunity to do something exceptional.” 

Dramaturg Wendy Weckwerth reflects on the fellowship as a space to create with intention. “I'm grateful for this rare opportunity to protect time—without sacrificing financial security—to pursue, create, and collaborate on dramaturgical projects.” Adding, “We make sense of our world through the stories we tell ourselves, especially through performance. I look forward to spending the year working on stories that recognize and challenge what's broken, build connections, and nurture hope.”

Selection is based on a commitment to theater arts, evidence of professional achievement, and a sustained level of artistic merit in the applicant's work. The 2022-23 fellowship term is July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023.

Recent recipients include: Sarah Agnew, Ansa Akyea, Barry Browning, Bart Buch, Shá Cage, Sun Mee Chomet, James Craven, Marcus Dilliard, Scott W. Edwards, Katharine Horowitz, Masanari Kawahara, Kurt Kwan, Elise Langer, Jim Lichtscheidl, Christopher Lutter-Gardella, Greta Oglesby, Sonja Parks, Denise Prosek, Joel Sass, Kate Sutton-Johnson, Michael Wangen, James A. Williams, Stephen Yoakam, Mathew LeFebvre, Austene Van, Abbee Warmboe, Talvin Wilks, and Sally Wingert.

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Meghan Kreidler is a Twin Cities-based actor and musician.

She has worked with Theater Mu, Mixed Blood Theatre, Children's Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Park Square Theatre, History Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Theater Latté Da, Workhaus Collective, Walking Shadow Theatre Company, and The Old Globe. She has worked as a race monologue artist with Penumbra Theatre's Race Workshop. Meghan is the recipient of the 2017 Ivey Award for Emerging Artist and the 2017 City Pages Artist of the Year. Kreidler also fronts Minneapolis-based rock and roll band Kiss the Tiger.

Instagram: @capnkreinch

Facebook: Meghan Kreidler

Kiss the Tiger

Twitter: @kissthetiger1

Greta Oglesby is an esteemed veteran of the American theater community.

Her performances have been variously described as “ravishing,” “indelible,” “powerful,” “magnificent,” “heartbreaking,” and “brilliant.” Her theater credits include: Ten Thousand Things: Thunder Knocking on the Door, Once on This Island, King Lear, The Furies; Penumbra Theater: The Wiz, The Piano Lesson, Amen Corner, A Love Song for Miss Lydia; Guthrie Theater: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Crucible, Caroline or Change, Burial at Thebes; Children’s Theater: Beggar’s Strike, Five Fingers of Funk, and Last Stop on Market Street. She published a book in 2012 entitled Mama ‘N ‘Nem, Handprints On My Life. In 2016 she wrote the play Handprints as a companion to the book, which was just produced as a film by Ten Thousand Things Theater Company and Free Style films.

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Wendy Weckwerth is a freelance dramaturg, editor, writer, translator, and educator with more than twenty years of experience.

She has participated in the development of new work locally at the Playwrights’ Center, Theatre Novi Most, History Theatre, Theater Latté Da, and at other venues nationally. Her translation projects have been produced at Yale Rep (Robert Woodruff’s adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s screenplay for Autumn Sonata) and August Strindberg Rep (Kristina). Wendy has taught at Yale, Dartmouth, Colby, Mount Holyoke, Bard, and Macalester Colleges. Training: DFA and MFA, Yale School of Drama. BA, Vassar College. 

More at: www.wendyweckwerth.com

Facebook: Wendy Weckwerth

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-weckwerth-b7012618/