Two Austin-based UT alumni selected for playwriting residency

Dan Dietz and C. Denby Swanson

Two UT Playwriting graduates, Dan Dietz (M.F.A. 1999) and C. Denby Swanson (M.F.A. 2000), are two of eleven playwrights selected in the ninth round of the Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights, jointly developed by the TCG and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional funding from the Ford Foundation. The program allows playwrights to create new work while in residence at a theatre, and to become a part of that theatre's artistic life and community activities.

Read below for a description their residency programs and locations (courtesy of TCG):

Dan Dietz will be in residence at Salvage Vanguard Theater (Austin, TX). He will develop a play called The Difference Engine, exploring the relationship between the brilliant 19th century engineer Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, mathematical visionary, and drug addict. Mr. Dietz will also develop a series of playwriting workshops that focus specifically on using drama to excite students about math, science and history.

C. Denby Swanson will develop Blue Monday, based on the life of the late Clifford Antone, a fascinating figure in the Austin, Texas music scene. Ms. Swanson will be in residence at Zachary Scott Theatre Center (Austin, TX) where she will also lead an extended writing workshop with student writers from ZACH's Performing Arts School, writers and dramaturges from Austin Script Works and musicians from the Austin Music Foundation.