Synecdoche Works Reveals Company of kanishk pandey's THE FATE OF THE ONLINE COW

Synecdoche Works has announced the cast and creative team for its workshop production of THE FATE OF THE ONLINE COW, an innovative new play by kanishk pandey, running April 25-27, 2025 at The Studio at The Chain.

ONLINE COW features an immersive game of Minecraft and an active stream chat designed by media designer Lauren Serafica. The Cow spends her life in front of a camera, playing Minecraft for an active chat, earning money for her owners, Mud and Hue. Up until this point, her life has been simple but fulfilled. However, when the game leads her to consider her own predicament, she must come to terms with the oppressive conditions she exists under and the act of earned revolution.

Marissa Joyce Stamps (Director) will lead the production. She is a Black, Haitian-American NYC-born and based Afrosurreal writer, director, actor, and educator, and often in dialogue with kinetics and landscape dramaturgy. The recipient of the 2023 Princess Grace Playwriting Award/New Dramatists Residency, she is a member of Lucille Lortel's Alcove, Roundabout's Directors Group (Cohort 6), The New Georges Jam, EST/Youngblood, and TAG at The Tank. A past member of Clubbed Thumb's Early-Career Writers Group, a Finalist for The National Black Theatre's I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency, and a Mercury Store Lead Artist, Marissa has directed the development of new works with The National Black Theatre, The Vineyard, BAM, Brown University, New Dramatists, Exponential Festival, Mercury Store, Conch Shell Productions, among others.

Deja Rion, recently seen at The Brick and in Choreomania at BAM Fisher, leads the cast as the COW, an innocent forced to stream Minecraft online for a living, and is joined by Arjun Biju (Williamstown Theatre Festival; The Workshop Theater; Cartoon Network) as HUE and Vincent Santvoord (Theatre Royal Bath; founding member Built4Collapse, Invulnerable Nothings, and Theatre is Dead) as MUD, the two brothers responsible for her plight.

kanishk pandey (Playwright) is a 2024-2025 New Voices Van Lier Fellow at Rattlestick Theater. His work has been recognized by the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Austin Film Festival, and New York Stage and Film. His playwriting has been supported by companies such as Ars Nova, Rattlestick Theater, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Clubbed Thumb, Exponential Festival, Invulnerable Nothings, The Brick, SPACE on Ryder Farm, The Lark, Sanguine Theater, and Boomerang Theater. More at kanishkpandey.com