Groff and Twist Among '06 Simon Memorial Foundation Fellows

Playwright Rinne Groff and theatre artist Basil Twist are among those selected as recipients of 2006 John Simon Memorial Foundation Fellowships.

The two join 185 others--artists, writers, professors, choreographers, composers and more from both the U.S. and Canada--in becoming Fellows.

Groff's The Ruby Sunrise was seen at the Public Theater last fall; it recently received a Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Play. Her other plays include Jimmy Carter Was a Democrat and 40 Thieves. Twist, a director and puppeteer, is the director of Paula Vogel's The Long Christmas Ride Home, which will seen this May at San Francisco's Magic Theatre; he also created the show's puppets. Other credits include Symphonie Fantastique, La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco, and Petrushka.

"The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was established in 1925 by United States Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife as a memorial to a son who died April 26, 1922. The Foundation offers Fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions and irrespective of race, color, or creed," states the Foundation's website.

For more information, visit www.gf.org.