HANOVER, N.H. – April 26, 2019 – Six plays that explore the place of technology in society have been named to the shortlist of the 2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Playwriting Award.
From a social media mystery to a cozy companionship between a woman and her phone, each play explores what it means to be a human in a computerized world.
“We are once again thrilled with the response to the playwriting competition and the strong shortlist it has generated,” said Dan Rockmore, director of the Neukom Institute. “The stage has always been an important artistic medium for exploring important societal issues. Clearly, the transformative and pervasive nature of technology in today’s world is inspiring creative and thought-provoking dramatic work.”
2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards Shortlist of Plays:
- “Citizen Scientist” by Christina Quintana: New friends exploring exoplanets and battling loss learn what it means to be present on Earth.
- “Machine Learning” by Francisco Mendoza: A nursing app attracts the tech industry, forcing a choice between family or professional passion.
- “Metadata” by Amy Crider: A young professional is met with mystery when members of an online social media group disappear.
- “Primary User” by Nate Eppler: A chatbot leads to an examination of disconnection and grief in the age of loneliness.
- “Roguish Machine” by Daniel Hirsch: The fates of two siblings diverge upon the arrival of a newfangled, mechanical invention.
- “Until You Come Back to Me” by Carl Holder: A “special” relationship between a human and her phone gets complicated.
The winning play will be selected from the shortlist in May. The list will be judged by theater experts from Northern Stage, VoxFest, Dartmouth’s Department of Film and Media Studies, Dartmouth’s Department of Theater, and The Civilians theater company.
The award winner will receive a $5,000 honorarium as well as assistance with the play’s development in the form of a reading with VoxFest at Dartmouth College in July of 2019 and a second staged reading at the New Works Now Festival at Northern Stage in White River Junction, VT, during the 2019/2020 season.
The Neukom Institute for Computational Science is dedicated to supporting and inspiring computational work. The Literary Arts Awards is part of the Neukom Institute’s initiative to explore the ways in which computational ideas impact society.
###
About the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards
The Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards is an annual awards program to honor and support creative works around speculative fiction. Established in 2017, the awards program is an open, international competition sponsored by the Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth College. The awards aspire to raise general awareness of the speculative fiction genre, as well as the interconnectivity between the sciences and the arts. The awards serve as part of the Neukom Institute’s initiative to explore the ways in which computational ideas impact society