Playwright & ‘Only Murders In The Building’ Writer Madeleine George Named Recipient Of 2021 Hermitage Award
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EXCLUSIVE: Madeleine George, playwright and writer on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, has been newly selected as the 2021 recipient of the Hermitage Major Theater Award, a national jury-selected prize that offers one of the largest non-profit theater commissions in the country.
George will receive a cash prize of $35,000, as well as a residency at the Hermitage in Sarasota County, Florida, as well as a developmental workshop in a major arts capital such as New York, Chicago, or London in the fall of 2023.
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“I was surprised and thrilled to get the news about the Hermitage Major Theater Award,” said George in a statement. “It’s such an honor to be joining in the Hermitage’s awe-inspiring family of artists, and I’m excited to have resources and time to put towards my commissioned play, which has been on my mind for a while and which I’m eager to share with the world.”
Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, made the announcement today. The award was established by the Hermitage last year with support from the Kutya Major Foundation.
George’s plays include Hurricane Diane (Obie Award), The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Pulitzer Prize finalist), and Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, Precious Little, and The Zero Hour. She is currently a writer and producer on Hulu’s mystery-comedy Only Murders in the Building starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez.
The 2021 Hermitage was initially awarded last December to playwright Radha Blank, who is not able to fulfill the commission due to personal matters and conflicting professional commitments. George was one of four finalists in the initial process, and the inaugural Award Committee reconvened “to enthusiastically endorse” for the honor.
The 2021 Award Committee included Pulitzer-winning playwright Doug Wright, director Leigh Silverman and director Liesl Tommy.
“Madeleine George is an acute and often hilarious commentator on American culture, skewering ‘sacred cows’ like gender, technology, academia, and our patriarchal government and – in doing so – reveals the maddening inconsistencies of the human heart,” said Wright, a member of the Hermitage Board of Trustees.
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