Playbill | About the playwright

Kiran Soma

Kiran is a senior in chemistry and communication media. The winner of the 2023 Creative Artist Award in Theatre, he has previously worked in the costume shop and written for QuickScripts with University Theatre. Outside of theatre, Kiran conducts research in the Pierce Lab, works with the Red Cross Club on campus, and loves to find ways to combine his passions for science and media to help others. 

I’m originally from Louisville, Kentucky, but my family and I moved to North Carolina as I started grade 8. The experiences that I’ve had in both places inspired some of the scenes that you’ll see in the play (fortunately and unfortunately), and the familial set-up at the core of the play mirrors my own family. 

Although I primarily study chemistry, I’ve always been interested in writing and creative development, which inspired me to add on a major in communication during my second semester at NC State. In order to further explore these interests, I also took a trip to New York City with the University Honors Program in Fall 2022, where I was able to see Leopoldstadt, a play by Tom Stoppard, on Broadway. The subject matter and themes of Leopoldstadt, especially in connection with the playwright’s identity and ancestry, inspired me to start developing What We Grew Up With. 

I envisioned the opening scene of my play as soon as I walked out of the theater in New York, and with some determination, collaboration, and workshopping, that has turned into the one-act play that’ll be on stage this week.

It’s been incredible to see the play transform over time and watch the words come alive with the hard work of the company in University Theatre. Each actor has brought their own interpretation and depth to the characters, and I think that that has made the play that much more meaningful.