La MaMa Umbria Symposium opportunity is now available for alumni

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts has announced an opportunity for UNCSA alumni to attend the 2024 La MaMa Umbria Symposium in Italy for Directors and Playwrights – applications due May 10, 2024.

For over 30 years, the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at UNCSA has partnered with cultural organizations, fostering new programs in arts and cultural research, the development of new work, arts education, and career development for artists and cultural leaders.

This summer, the Kenan Institute for the Arts is collaborating again with La MaMa Umbria International(opens in new tab) by sponsoring up to four UNCSA Alumni from the classes of 2014 to 2024 for one of three creative symposiums in Italy designed for artists to work with internationally renowned theatre professionals whose work is impacting the contemporary landscape of performative arts.

“For nearly 25 years,” says Kenan Institute Executive Director Kevin Bitterman, “La MaMa Umbria has served as a hub where artists from diverse corners of the globe convene to collaborate, generate new work and exchange creative concepts — it is a fertile crossroads for artists at all stages of development, and a perfect environment for members of the UNCSA community to advance their creative practice.”

For nearly 25 years, La MaMa Umbria has served as a hub where artists from diverse corners of the globe convene to collaborate, generate new work and exchange creative concepts.

Kenan Institute Executive Director Kevin Bitterman

Founded in 1990 by legendary theatre pioneer, Ellen Stewart(opens in new tab), La MaMa Umbria International is dedicated to artistic experimentation, research, and learning. Housed in a former monastery just outside Spoleto, Italy, the center is less than two hours from Rome. Hundreds of artists have found Umbria to be a space that is beautiful, spiritually enriching, welcoming, and open to bold artistic experiments.

The 2024 La MaMa Umbria International workshop leaders include American theatre director Anne Bogart(opens in new tab); Franco-Uruguayan playwright and director Sergio Blanco(opens in new tab); Doris Duke Artist Award-winning director Stacy Klein(opens in new tab); Contemporary Rwandan director and playwright Hope Azeda(opens in new tab); Co-Founding Artistic and Executive Director of The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics Derek Goldman(opens in new tab); Co-founder of DAH Theater Dijana Milošević(opens in new tab); and Polish-born American playwright Martyna Majok(opens in new tab) who received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play "Cost of Living," among other workshop leaders.

Learn more about how to apply for a chance to attend the La MaMa Umbria Symposium here.