UC San Diego Theatre Alumnus Competes for Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award

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Andrew Gallop (left) and Deleon Dallas in a scene from “Damascus.” Photo by Jim Carmody

Faculty and students from UC San Diego’s Department of Theatre and Dance excel on Broadway, in theaters nationwide, and in the film and television industry. Playwriting alumna Rachel Axler ’04, who just won her third Emmy Award for the critically acclaimed HBO show “VEEP,” is one example. Now a new graduate with an MFA in playwriting, Bennett Fisher ’16, is a finalist for a Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award. Fisher is competing for the award with “Damascus,” his play developed and produced as part of the 2016 Wagner New Play Festival (WNPF) on the La Jolla campus. He is the only UC San Diego playwright among a field of four other finalists from UCLA, where the first-, second- and third-place winners will be announced Nov. 1.

“We are very pleased about this nomination,” said Naomi Iizuka, head of playwriting in the Department of Theatre and Dance. “Our focus at UC San Diego is storytelling. That's a skill that can be used in theatre, in addition to film and TV.”

Fisher’s “Damascus,” is a play that investigates the seductiveness of extremism, the paranoia that can grow in an age of terrorist attacks on civilians and the assumptions we make about homeland and security.

Kimberly Monks (left) and Deleon Dallas perform a scene from “Damascus.” Photo by Jim Carmody

“I'm very humbled to have been chosen as a finalist, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to UC San Diego,” said Fisher. “Whatever I've achieved as an artist, I've done so because I've had smart, dedicated mentors and generous collaborators who worked tirelessly with me on every draft. My fellow playwrights provided insight and encouragement when I was stuck, and I had an incredible team for the WNPF production that pushed me to do my best work.”

Fisher said that “Damascus” is about wanting to find compassion for the people we are poised to hate.

“It was difficult to write, but a joy to work on, and that has everything to do with the faculty and students that helped bring it to life. I could have stayed in that rehearsal room forever,” he admitted.

Established in 1955 by Samuel Goldwyn, Sr., of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film fame, the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards are intended to encourage young film, stage and television writers. All students at any University of California campus are eligible to compete for the award by submitting screenplays, teleplays and stage plays. Winners receive $15,000 for first prize, $7,500 for second prize and $4,000 for third prize, with $2,000 and $1,000 honorable-mention prizes. Past winners include Francis Ford Coppola, Eric Roth and Jonathan Kellerman.

The UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance is considered one of the top theatre-training programs in the country. The department also shares a close relationship with the Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse, and its graduate students participate in at least one professional residency. Upon graduation, many students go on to work professionally in theater, film and television. The department resides within the Division of Arts and Humanities, which ranks in the top 23, according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities.