Rattlestick Theater Names Stefani Kuo, Marissa Joyce Stamps Van Lier Fellows

Rattlestick Theater will host playwrights Stefani Kuo 郭佳怡 and Marissa Joyce Stamps as its newest Van Lier New Voices Fellows. This program provides substantial support to two emerging playwrights of color annually, including a $35,000 living stipend, a $5,000 artistic fund, mentorship with a chosen playwright, workshops and readings of new work, as well as participation in Rattlestick's larger artistic network. The Van Lier New Voices Fellowship is funded by The New York Community Trust and the Jerome Foundation.

Since 2011, the Fellowship has supported playwrights including Susan Soon He Stanton, Christopher Oscar Peña, Anna Moench, Donja R. Love, C.A. Johnson, C. Quintana (CQ), Brittany K. Allen, David Zheng, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Xavier Galva, Ife Olujobi, Edison Ventura Mata Diaz, Zora Howard, May Treuhaft-Ali, Minghao Tu, AriDy Nox, a.k. Payne, Alex Lin, and kanishk pandey.

Van Leir New Voices Fellows have produced and presented dozens of works to thousands of audience members both regionally and throughout New York City, with many fellows garnering Peabody, WGA, Princess Grace Awards, Pulitzer Prizes for Drama Finalists, and Susan Smith Blackburn Special Commendations.

Stefani Kuo

Stefani Kuo 郭佳怡 (she/her) is a filmmaker, playwright, and performer from Hong Kong and Taiwan. She received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.F.A. in Playwriting from Yale. Fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, French, and English, she is interested in crafting multicultural, multilingual narratives for international audiences. She is a 2026 Jerome Resident at the Anderson Center and was a 2024 MacDowell Fellow and a Working Farm Resident with SPACE on Ryder Farm. She is under commission with the Atlantic Theater Company and Ensemble Studio Theater/Sloan. She is a member of Youngblood, EST's Writers Group, and was a 2019 member of Interstate-73, Page 73's Writers Group. From April to September 2025, she spent 154 days hiking 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Marissa Joyce Stamps

Marissa Joyce Stamps is a Black, Haitian-American, NYC-born and based Afrosurreal writer, director, and educator who is often in dialogue with landscape dramaturgy. Her awards and honors include the Princess Grace Playwriting Award, the Yale Drama Prize Shortlist, a MacDowell Fellowship, a Caldera Artist-in-Residence, and being a three-time O'Neill NPC Finalist. Her memberships and affiliations include EST/Youngblood, Breaking & Entering, Roundabout's Directors Group, The Kilroys, Clubbed Thumb's ECWG, Lucille Lortel's Alcove, and The New Georges Jam. Her plays have been supported by Rattlestick, The Vineyard, The National Black Theatre, New Dramatists, Clubbed Thumb, Bushwick Starr, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Lucille Lortel, Exponential Festival, The Brick, Conch Shell Productions, Chautauqua Theater Company, CATCH, and more. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Brooklyn College. marissajoycestamps.com