|
* * * 2010-2011 * * *
The Julie Harris
Playwright Award
FIRST AWARD TO:
MARK TWAIN & LIVY by Joseph
P. Ritz: Mark Twain in his early thirties and
new bride, Livy, set up housekeeping in Buffalo.
Since he is an editor and feature writer for the
Buffalo Newspaper, Mark’s father-in-law wants him to
write a favorable article to the mine owners. Mark
quite mindful of his father-in –law’s loan to him
does so against his better judgment. Livy gives
birth to a son and remains in frail health. Her
mother, who despises Mark, plots to move Livy and
son away from him. Mark gives up his chance for a
steady job on the newspaper in order to write novels
with humor. Livy agrees with him, and they move
away from Buffalo to build a home in Hartford to
start a new life.
Joseph P. Ritz of
Hamburg, NY has written several award winning plays,
such as First Award-Christians in Family Arts. His
plays have been produced in New York at The American
Place Theatre and The 87th Street
Theatre. He is a retired journalist and columnist
for New Haven Courier Express and The Buffalo News.
He has a fellowship from the New York Foundation of
the Arts.
SECOND AWARD TO:
DRONES by Matt Witten is
about the men and women of the Air Force who sit in
a trailer parker in Nevada and “pilot” unmanned
aircraft that fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan.
With a touch of a button, they kill people eight
thousand miles away. It's an extremely weird job,
filled with emotional disconnects, moral
ambiguities, and takeout pizza. On a larger level,
the play deals with what robot warfare is doing/will
do to our country and the world, and to the nature
of war itself. If current trends hold up, in 30
years we won't have soldiers in the field, we'll
just have robots fighting our wars. This play
addresses both the personal and political
implications of this incredible phenomenon.
Matt Witten of Los
Angeles, CA has been a TV writer for the past
twelve years, writing for such shows as Law &
Order, House, and Pretty Little Liars.
Before that he was a novelist and playwright. He
wrote four murder mysteries that were published by
Signet. His plays, including Washington Square
Moves, The Deal, Sacred Journey, and The Ties
That Bind have been produced at theatres
throughout the country, including Primary Stages in
New York, the Blue Heron Theatre in New York, the
Huntington Theatre in Boston, the Philadelphia
Festival Theatre, the Cricket Theatre in
Minneapolis, and the New Mexico Repertory Theatre
THIRD AWARD TO:
CHIP OFF THE MOON by Bill
Quigley: is a family drama with a ferocious
comic underbelly. Set in a working-class
neighborhood in the Bronx in 1953, the play explores
the disappointments and compromised dreams that
often accompany middle-age. Lucy Marino, who works
six days a week in a baking factory, shares a modest
apartment with husband, Marty, and Grace, her aging
mother, who has no idea she’s battling dementia.
Grieving the loss of one son killed in World War II,
Lucy has been estranged from her remaining son,
Tommy. Much to her disapproval and bewilderment,
Tommy lives in Greenwich Village and consistently
rebuffs his mother’s repeated and aggressive
attempts to find him a girl. This play explores the
eternal dynamics of parents and children, and how
they differ in their expectations of one another.
Bill Quigley of New
York, NY: A member of the HB Playwrights Unit, as
well as a Playwright-In-Residence with the Bleecker
Company, NYC, his play Don’t Ask, had its
West Coast Premiere this past August at the New
Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco; his full-length
play, Tomorrow Morning, had its World
Premiere in April at the HB Playwrights Theatre in
NYC. Another full-length play, An Aeroplane As
Far As Des Moines, is currently
being work shopped by the Bleecker Company. He and
collaborator, C.S. Drury, won the 2010 Alan Minieri
Playwright Award for their play So Long Lives
This.
Play Competition
For Youth Theatre
Marilyn Hall
Awards
* * * 2010-2011 *
* *
FIRST AWARD TO:
LEND ME YOUR EARS by Barbara
Heimburger: A cast and crew prepare to shoot a
TV episode of Roman Justice, a courtroom
drama. In this episode, Brutus and Cassius
are on trial for the murder of Julius Caesar. The
Soothsayer’s part has been cut because the actor
wanted his role beefed up. Although angry to lose a
star witness, the prosecutor forges ahead. The
defense attorney manages to shred the various
witnesses, especially Caesar’s wife and Caesar’s
ghost. With a combination of 21st century
vernacular, quotations from Shakespeare’s Julius
Caesar, and humor, both sides make their cases
for the conspirators’ guilt or innocence. And just
as the jury begins its deliberation, the Soothsayer
prances in and announces, “I’m back!”
Barbara Heimburger of
Rancho Mirage, CA has an undergraduate degree from
Harris Teachers College and two graduate degrees
from Webster University in St. Louis. In 1991, she
was a Walt Disney Company American Teacher Award
Honoree in English. Years later, she and writing
partner, Charles Lehnbeuter had The Saint Louis
Symphony Orchestra perform selections from their
first libretto, Wuthering Heights: The Musical.
Stealing Mona Lisa, one of their current
projects, tells the story of the 1911 theft of the
“world’s most famous face.”
SECOND AWARD TO:
THE RAZZLE DAZZLE CAPER by
Donna Gerdin; Fourteen-year-old Zoey Bloom works
in an exotic bird shop. She and the birds are
kidnapped by two thugs who work for a society
milliner, Scarlet McCaw who plans to use the birds’
feathers in her colorful hat designs. In Scarlet’s
dungeon Zoey and the birds plan their escape. After
several failed attempts, they realize that their
only chance to break free depends upon their ability
to cooperate with one another. That’s when Zoey and
friends devise a plot to dazzle their captors and
gain their freedom.
Donna Gerdin
of Oakton, VA holds a M.A. in English. In addition
to writing plays, she teaches high school English
and college composition classes in northern
Virginia. Her dark comedy Losing Lawrence
was part of the Kennedy Center’s page-to-stage
reading series and was selected by Centenary Stage
Company for its Women Playwrights Series. Following
a world premier at Horizons Theatre, Losing
Lawrence was published in 2008. Other
award-winning plays include The Polka Dot
Conspiracy and Wish You Were Her. She is
a founding member of the Playwrights Forum in
Washington, D.C.
HONORABLE MENTION TO:
ADEN’S MOTHER
by Jessica Puller of Highland Park, IL.
BLUE WILLOW by
Rose-Mary Harrington of Ashland, OR.
SWEET POISON by
Jay Breckenridge of McKeesport,PA.
|
