31-year-old playwright (and artist in residence at Hunter College’s Playwrighting program) Branden Jacobs-Jenkins was recently named a MacArthur Fellow (which comes with a $625,000 ‘Genius Grant’). He has several plays (An Octoroon, Appropriate, Gloria, Neighbors, War) that creatively explore identity and would be great reading for our students who want to work in the acting world.
http://www.playbill.com/article/what-its-like-to-wake-up-a-genius