American Playwriting Foundation to Give Out $10K Awards to WGA Members in Contest
The American Playwriting Foundation will grant $10,000 each to six Writers Guild of America members who are chosen as the winners in a new playwriting contest.
The grant money, which is given out under the existing program of The Relentless Award, is intended to help WGA writers who are unable to work in TV and film during the strike. The playwrights must be current WGA members and must write a 10-minute play that centers on the theme of picketing or striking. Submissions are open through Sept. 5.
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The plays will be performed in a special benefit performance at Theatre Row in New York by a cast including Wayne Brady, Billy Crudup, Vincent D’Onofrio, Gina Gershon, Walton Goggins, Natasha Lyonne, Sam Rockwell, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Liev Schreiber and Yul Vazquez. Five finalists will also be selected and will receive $1,000 each.
The American Playwriting Foundation Foundation, established in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman, has traditionally given out the Relentless Award to a playwright in recognition of a new work. Past recipients include Obie Award-winner and Pulitzer finalist Aleshea Harris (Is God Is), Pulitzer Prize finalist Clare Barron (Dance Nation) and Sarah DeLappe (The Wolves.) However, leadership decided to create new grants for the 10-minute picket plays, in light of the writers strike. Submission dates for the Relentless Award for full-length plays will be announced this fall.
“Many WGA members began their careers as playwrights,” commented American Playwriting Foundation Artistic Director David Bar Katz. “The Relentless Award, the largest cash prize in theater, was created for the specific purpose of supporting playwrights so that writing for TV and film wouldn’t be their only option if they wanted to eat and pay rent. But during this time, when those avenues have been closed to them, the American Playwriting Foundation – the theater community, the first artistic home to many of these artists – is here for them and has their backs.”
The judges include Tanya Barfield, Eric Bogosian, Harris and Lynn Nottage.
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