HANOVER, N.H.: The Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth College has named Francisco Mendoza’s Machine Learning the recipient of this year’s Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Playwriting. The Neukom Institute Awards recognize imaginative speculative fiction stories and plays that explore human interaction with science and technology.
![](https://www.americantheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/AUTHOR-Francisco-Mendoza-Headshot-credit_-Michael-Lloret.jpg)
Machine Learning, about a nursing app that attracts the attention of the tech industry, will be developed as part of VoxFest at Dartmouth College in July. A staged reading will also be presented at Northern Stage in White River Junction, Vt., as part of the company’s 2019-20 season. In additional to developmental support, Mendoza has received an honorarium of $5,000.
“Francisco has written a moving and complicated vision of our potential future,” said Jess Chayes, associate artistic director of Northern Stage, in a statement. “What distinguishes Machine Learning is its use of a story about artificial intelligence to isolate and examine the very things that make us human. Northern Stage is thrilled to be partnering for the second year with the Neukom Institute and looks forward to contributing to the development of this play.”