spg@uchicago.edu

Sunanda Prabhu-Gaunkar assists in the development of creative and strategic inputs for the Scientists, Technologists, and Artists Generating Exploration (STAGE) lab. She can be contacted for requests related to STAGE's distinct research focus, and creating and developing new theatre and film work inspired by science and technology.

Ellen Wiese is a Chicago-based writer and theater artist. She has developed short and full-length plays with Trap Door Theatre and Chimera Ensemble, and her prose has been recognized by Glimmer Train and is pending publication in Wigleaf. Ellen was the 2017-2018 Literary Apprentice at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and worked as a dramaturg, script supervisor, and research associate with playwrights including Tracy Letts, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, and Aziza Barnes. In addition to her writing and theatrical work, Ellen's interests include Dungeons & Dragons, aerial silks, and taiko drumming. She recently earned her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Chicago; additional studies included nuclear policy, particularly in reference to global energy distribution.

Collin Van Son is a recent graduate of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in physics with minors in English and mathematics. His English honors thesis, a short story collection titled "If You Don't Laugh, You Cry," was awarded the English department's Henry W. Sams Award for Best Creative Thesis. His physics research experience includes monitoring space weather events for NASA and analyzing finch birdsong patterns. As a member of Penn State's No Refund Theatre, he acted in seven shows, won first and second prize at an annual playwriting competition, and wrote and directed the original play TARVA. Several of his stories and poems have appeared online or in print, including "The Seawater Lighthouse: An Annotated History," recipient of Hofstra University's Mill Prize, and "And Your Bird Can Sing," recipient of Penn State's Edward J. Nichols Award for creative non-fiction. Collin is excited to join the STAGE team and is looking forward to improvising both on stage and on paper. 

Edison Hong is a New York- and São Paulo-based composer who has been chosen for the Apples and Oranges Theatre Accelerator Class of 2018, New Musicals Inc.’s 2017 New Voices Project, the Richie Jackson Fellowship in 2016, Prospect Theatre’s Fall 2015 Musical Theatre Lab, and the National Asian Artists Project’s 2015 Discover Series. An alumnus of NYU’s Graduate Research Initiative Fellowship based in Prague, Czech Republic, he has participated in residencies at SPACE at Ryder Farm, Catwalk Residency, Goodspeed Opera House, Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, and the Barnett Residency in Rush, NY. His compositions have been performed at venues such as Joe’s Pub, Sardi’s, Barrington Stage, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, and 54 Below. He received his MFA at the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at New York University and had three 29-hour readings for his full-length shows: Second Place (music), The Last Berplonza (music), and Nice Meeting You (music). His show, Van Gogh, Me and... received a reviewed staged reading in Seoul, South Korea, in October 2018. In early 2016, Lady Grey Theatrical produced a sold-out stage reading of The Last Berplonza, and Nice Meeting You received an additional reading with NYU’s New Studio on Broadway in November 2016. He has also received a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis.