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* * * WINNERS FOR
2007 * * *
THE JULIE
HARRIS PLAYWRIGHT AWARD COMPETITION
FIRST
AWARD TO:
In the Middle of
Nowhere by Kent R. Brown
of Fairfield, Connecticut. In rural
Nebraska, Rebecca and Lucas Pender, a loving couple
in their upper years, stand transfixed as they
witness the collapse of the Twin Towers.
Insidiously, the trauma of 9/11 begins to unleash a
Pandora’s Box of repressed fears hidden deep within
Rebecca’s psyche. She loses weight, sanitizes the
house; even prowls gun shops and military surplus
stores. She refuses psychological assistance. Lucas
is frantic. He loves her desperately, can’t envision
life without her. So, together, they stockpile food
supplies and weapons, and build an underground
shelter. Finally, a believer now, Lucas stands in
their front yard -- flashlight in one hand, shotgun
in the other -- ready to defend his homestead
against the impending Armageddon that will surely
come.
Kent R. Brown
is a retired professor of drama at the University of
Arkansas and a former adjunct professor at Fairfield
University. His works have been produced by
People’s Light and Theatre Company, Walnut Street
Theatre, BoarsHead Theatre, West Coast Ensemble,
Boston Theatre Works, Pulse Ensemble, Moving Arts
and other theatres in the United States, Belgium and
Canada. Awards include: Norfolk Southern /Mill
Mountain, McLaren Comedy, Boston Theatre Marathon,
Drama-Logue and Denver Center Theatre awards. Kent is a
member of The Dramatists Guild. kentrbrown@aol.com.
SECOND AWARD TO:
COMPLICIT
by Joe Sutton of Montclair, NJ. A play
about the liberal media and the war on terror. A
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist is being hauled in
front of a special prosecutor and threatened with
the Espionage Act for revealing secrets about the
CIA black sites. What makes his circumstances more
poignant, he once wrote a column suggesting we could
no longer be squeamish about torture. In the days
after 9/11 we couldn’t “afford “ to be. He comes to
regret that column and, now facing a grand jury,
he’s confronting another ethical choice—whether or
not to give up his source with the CIA story.
Joe Sutton’s
provocative plays about politics, race and other
topical issues include Voir Dire nominated
for the Pulitzer Prize and the Best Play award of
the American Theatre Critics Association. His works
have been produced by BAM, Arena Stage, the
Cleveland Play House, and the Old Globe. Honors and
awards are the FDG/CBS playwrighting award, the Joe
A. Calloway Award and fellowships from the New York
Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment
for the Arts. He is also teaches playwrighting at
Dartmouth College.
THIRD AWARD TO:
THE FAULT LINE
by Frederic Glover of Brooklyn, NY.
A dark comedy set in Berkeley, California in the
present. A middle-aged couple, both attorneys,
whose once loving marriage is now falling apart due
to the husband’s recent job loss, find themselves
pushed to the emotional brink by the arrival of
their one time, political science professor. This
charismatic man seems to be living a life of active
revolution and may be wanted by the authorities.
When the professor tries to re-ignite his once
passionate affair with the wife, all three people
are forced to make comic and dangerous choices.
Frederic Glover’s
work has been performed at The Workshop Theater, The
Independent Theater, Jewish Repertory Theater,
Rembiko Theater, and the Provincetown Theater
Company. Awards: Tribute productions Sprenger-Lang
Award, New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship,
National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill
Center.
PLAY
COMPETITION FOR YOUTH THEATRE—MARILYN HALL AWARDS
FIRST AWARD TO:
I’M NOT NOTHING
by Kathy Kafer of Pelham, NY.
A fourteen-year old girl must deal with her
mother’s abandonment of the family (having realized
she was a lesbian) confronts her loss and the
onslaught of adolescent sex. The girl wonders if
she is gay, too, setting off a series of comedic
encounters with her friends and classmates. In the
end, the girl finally reconciles with her mother.
Kathy Kafer’s
plays have been produced in NY, the Abingdon
Theater, Algonquin Theater, Altered Stages,
Blueberry Pond Theatre, Lamb’s Theatre. Awards:
finalist in the 2007 Nantucket Short Play Contest,
finalist in the 2005 Stanley Drama, Dorothy Silver
and Writer’s Digest competitions. A former
journalist of freelance articles for the New York
Times, she now teaches at the S.A.R. Academy in
Riverdale, N.Y.
SECOND AWARD TO:
PROM NIGHT
by Sylvia Davenport-Veith of Oxford, GA.
A play about an awkward girl, Imena, who escapes
the unwanted advances of her drunken prom date and
runs into the woods. There she runs into the H.S.
football captain and Prom King who is fighting with
his drunken date. She pathetically passes
out. The Prom King and Imena start to share their
deepest secrets. He begins a romance with this
uncool girl. Together they create their own romantic
Prom Night magic.
Sylvia Davenport-Veith
earned a BFA in Theatre and M.Ed. in English
Education from the University of Florida. In
Atlanta, Georgia she taught theatre and directed
plays at Shiloh High School (a.k.a. Shiloh Onstage)
in Snellville. She is a member of the following
organizations: The Dramatists Guild of America; The
American Screenwriter’s Association; The American
Alliance for Theatre and Education; Working Title
Playwrights; and Atlanta Stage Write Productions.
Prom Night, published by Theatrefolk,
will be available in the Fall of 2008.
HONORABLE MENTION
NEVER EVER LAND by
Rosemary Zibart of Santa Fe, NM.
PADDY AND THE MERMAID
by Donna Latham of St. Charles, IL.
I HATE SHAKESPEARE
by Steph Deferie of Harwich, MA.
KATRINA: THE GIRL WHO
WANTED HER NAME BACK by Jason Tremblay of
Austin, TX. |
