The University of Minnesota provides a nominated graduate student with support, mentorship and practical experience at Penumbra Theatre Company through this fellowship program. Having produced more August Wilson plays than any other professional organization worldwide, Penumbra is uniquely situated to afford students the opportunity to explore the signature Penumbra staging process that inaugurated the playwright’s career in 1983 with Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Before his death in 2005, August Wilson was lauded with praise from critics and contemporaries in addition to being twice awarded the highly esteemed Pulitzer Prize.

Administered by the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance, the Fellow receives full tuition and a 50% teaching assistantship during a residence that can extend up to three years of study. The award is based on merit, achievement, creativity and community involvement. The Fellow is the resident scholar at Penumbra and provides dramaturgical research, and critical essays that are often used in support of thesis or dissertation work. Penumbra Theatre Company member August Wilson created this fellowship to solidify a connection between the country’s preeminent black theatre company and area students, and to generate erudite criticism and dramaturgical research within an authentic, expert African American institution.

Maximum participants: 1 Fellow per year.
Candidates must be nominated by faculty at University of Minnesota.
Open to graduate students.
For more information, email ,
Graduate Studies Secretary in the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance