MINNEAPOLIS: Playwrights’ Center has announced the 2018-19 McKnight Theater Artist Fellows. The fellowship is awarded to Minnesota theatre artists whose work demonstrates exceptional merit. The winners, who are selected by a panel of local and national artists, will each receive a $25,000 cash prize and access to $7,000 in development funds.
This year’s recipients include sound designer Scott W. Edwards, puppeteer and puppet designer Masanari Kawahara, and performer Elise Langer.
Edwards served as the Children’s Theatre Company’s resident sound designer for 8 years. Previously he served as Guthrie Theater’s resident sound designer for 21 years, where his work will be on display next month in The Legend of Georgia McBride.
Kawahara’s work has appeared at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, Jungle Theater, and Pangea World Theater. He is currently performing in Speechless by the Moving Company. Kawahara also received the McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship in 2010.
Langer co-created and performed in the Ivey Award-winning Milly and Tillie at Open Eye Figure Theatre. She is a core artists with Ten Thousand Things Theater, and has performed in the Twin Cities at companies including Children’s Theatre Company, History Theatre, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, among others. Her next project will be Scapin at Ten Thousand Things Theater.
“To be part of a group of amazing artists that I admire and have worked with over the years is a great honor,” said Edwards in a statement.
