By Jason Vernon

French-Australian playwright Olivia Clement graduated in 2023 from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop MFA program, earning the coveted University of Iowa Dee Silver Postgraduate Writing Fellowship. As the Dee Silver Fellow, Clement was commissioned to write the play Iris, which had its first reading in the Alan MacVey Theatre at Iowa in spring 2024. As part of the fellowship, Olivia and her play then went on to San Diego, where Iris was given a three-day workshop concluding in a public reading at Cygnet Theatre.

In collaboration with Dee Silver, M.D. (a graduate of the UI Carver College of Medicine and neurologist practicing in southern California), Cygnet Theatre, and the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, this commission supports and uplifts new playwrights as they graduate from the MFA playwriting program at Iowa. 

In Cygnet’s press release celebrating the project, Cygnet Theatre Artistic Director Sean Murray said, “I am thrilled to once again have the Dee Silver M.D. Commission at Cygnet Theatre, this year in partnership with Iowa Playwrights Workshop, one of the oldest MFA playwriting programs in the country. Iowa graduates join the ranks of alumni like Tennessee Williams and Samuel Hunter as artists who will lead the next generation of great American theatre.”

In addition to her work at Iowa and post-graduation, Olivia Clement is a celebrated playwright, published writer, and educator. Her play The Arrogance (2024 O'Neill Semi-Finalist) will have its world premiere at KXT Broadway in Sydney, Australia, this summer. 

An intimate portrayal of a woman’s search for connection and comprehension in the wake and grief of miscarriage, Iris follows Nicole, an artist, and their partner Harper as they struggle to connect in the weeks after a miscarriage. In the woods, Nicole meets a mysterious young girl. Iris is a play about creation, loss, and learning to live with uncertainty. 

Sponsor and commissioner Dee Silver, M.D., explained, “I wanted a play to be able to express the complexity of the human condition and demonstrate hope and joy. A play with a message that the audience can in some way identify with, and gain understanding about themselves and others, and also be beneficial to their lives. Iris does just that."

In an interview with KUSI-TV in San Diego, Clement described the creation of this play as something close to her heart, saying “[Miscarriage] is something that affects so many families, but we talk about it in private a lot. So, for me, it meant a lot to be able to share a story that, I think, a lot of women, but also men, will be able to connect with.”