Gunderson and THE BOOK OF WILL Win Top Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award

Over the weekend, the American Theatre Critics Association announced the 2018 winners of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Awards, which shine a spotlight (and reward) playwrights for professionally produced work premiering outside New York City. With the top award and two citations, the Steinberg/ATCA Awards give out a total of $40,00 each year, making the awards the largest national new play program of its kind. Every year, they are announced on the Saturday of the last weekend of Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Playwright Lauren Gunderson continued what has been a banner year, as she was the recipient of the the top award of $25,000 and a commemorative plaque for her play The Book of Will, which premiered at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts last year. Gunderson's scenario takes place after the death of Shakespeare, when two of his friends--Henry Condell and John Heminges--attempt to preserve his plays for posterity. As the Denver Center frames it, "the two actors are determined to compile the first Folio and preserve the words that shaped their lives. They’ll just have to borrow, beg and band together to get it done. Lauren Gunderson weaves a hilarious and heartfelt story inspired by the true story of Shakespeare’s First Folio."

In a world with so many Shakespeare festivals eager to produce work that involves him* and a playwright with a good deal of buzz right now, it seems likely you will see The Book of Will somewhere near you very soon. The Book of Will has been published by Dramatists Play Service.

Molly Smith Metzler's Cry It Out, an insightful look at how new motherhood affects three very different women (and one man), took a $7500 cash prize, along with Ike Holter's The Wolf at the end of the Block, a searing drama about a crime outside a boarded-up Chicago bar that underlines the jagged gulf between people of color and the police. Cry It Out premiered at last year's Humana Festival, while The Wolf at the End of the Block was presented by Teatro Vista at Victory Gardens Theater. You can find Cry It Out at Dramatic Publishing, while The Wolf at the End of the Block is scheduled to be published by Northwestern University Press along with Holter's entire seven-play Chicago cycle.

The other finalists were Linda Vista and The Minutes, both by Tracy Letts, and Objects in the Mirror by Charles Smith.

At the same event at the Humana Festival, Chelsea Marcantel's Airness, a breezy and energetic look at an air guitar competition, was named this year's winner of the M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award recognizing an emerging playwright.

*For recent work involving Shakespeare as a person, see: Lee Hall's Shakespeare in Love, coming to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival this year, after productions in London, the Stratford Festival in Canada, Chicago, etc.; Timothy Findley's Elizabeth Rex, a smash at Illinois Shakes in 2014 after it, too, played at the Stratford Festival and Chicago Shakes; and Bill Cain's Equivocation, a previous Steinberg/ATCA winner from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

American Theatre Critics Announce Steinberg/ATCA New Play Finalists

The American Theatre Critics Association has released the names of the six finalists for the 2018 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, which spotlights playwrights for professionally produced work premiering outside New York City. The Steinberg/ATCA Awards hand out $40,00 each year, making these awards the largest national new play program of its kind.

This year's finalists are The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson, Cry It Out by Molly Smith Metzler, Linda Vista by Tracy Letts, The Minutes by Tracy Letts, Objects in the Mirror by Charles Smith, and The Wolf at the End of the Block by Ike Holter. Chicago is strongly represented in this group, with two plays from Letts that premiered at Steppenwolf, Smith's play from the Goodman Theatre, and Holter's play, which was presented by Teatro Vista at Victory Gardens.

Here's how the ATCA committee describes the plays chosen:

The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson, about the efforts of Shakespeare's contemporaries to preserve his words after his death, "fires on all cylinders" according to one panelist. Said another, it "wrestles with big questions: Why we create and how we deal with death? What constitutes a legacy? And how a surpassing love for something bigger can make every sacrifice worth it." It's "all the more impressive given that we know how the story will end." "And it's funny — genuinely funny — in a way that feels contemporary and yet not cynical." The Book of Will had its world premiere at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Cry It Out by Molly Smith Metzler focuses on the bonds and barriers between two new mothers across a backyard and across class differences. According to panel members, it is "heartbreakingly original in wrestling with issues of female friendship and class and privilege while still being a story about two people one quickly feels strongly about." "Their challenges come across as very real and accessible without being trivialized." Cry It Out premiered at the Humana Festival.

Linda Vista by Tracy Letts focuses on "a man-child who is lonely and wants to be loved — while remaining too immature to do the work involved in making that happen." With, according to a panelist, some of the "smartest, funniest dialogue of any play this year, it also features female roles exceptionally fresh and well crafted." "Letts runs it out of control and then brings it back," said another. It features, "smart observations on marriage, fatherhood, and aging" and, noted yet another, "It's like getting smacked with a metal ruler while someone's telling jokes." Linda Vista premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

The Minutes, also by Tracy Letts, reads like "this is Grover's Corners and Winesburg, Ohio through the eyes of Shirley Jackson." It's "a very weird roller coaster ride" through an absurd town council meeting that leads to "a magnificent tribal reveal soaked in the saddest truth about humanity." "I could see where this would be an actor's and director's dream with a WOW finish." The Minutes also premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Objects in the Mirror by Charles Smith "compellingly takes us into the mindset of the masses of refugees fleeing wars and other violence and their struggle against great odds to survive and escape." It's about both "the price of immigration, and the importance of identity, with a second act that feeds on the first act in clever ways but takes us in a new direction." "I was also moved," said one panelist, "by the identity crisis at the heart of the play—the hunger to reclaim a self and name that no longer belong to you." It conveys "a great deal about how worlds apart people can be, how different their ideas of how to help." Objects in the Mirror premiered at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.

The Wolf at the End of the Block by Ike Holter is, according to one panelist, "a play I can't get out of my head, from one of the most exciting emerging voices in American theater." It "melds gorgeous, often comedic dialogue into a very dark reality" in "a play that matters." Centered on a beating outside of a Chicago bar, it's "honest about how flawed the would-be heroes of the piece are — refreshing, given the amount of paint-by-numbers agitprop out there right now." Presented by Teatro Vista, The Wolf at the End of the Block premiered at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater.

These six finalists were selected from eligible scripts recommended by ATCA members from across the country.  To read about the history of the Steinberg/ATCA awards and see past winners, click here.

The top award of $25,000 and two citations of $7,500 each, plus commemorative plaques, will be presented April 7 at the 2018 Humana Festival of American Play at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Midwestern Voices Starts on Sunday With Philip Dawkins and "Miss Marx"

New plays all around! Right now, new one-acts by Midwestern writers are being celebrated in Heartland's "New Plays from the Heartland" project (and what a great forum last night with playwright Doug Post in conjunction with that), and it's almost time for the other new play initiative in town -- the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's Midwestern Voices Playwrights Festival -- to start up, as well.

The Midwestern Voices Playwrights Festival is a way for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival to showcase three up-and-coming playwrights from the region by giving each a four-day residency that includes readings of their new plays as performed by members of the ISF professional acting company. All three readings are open to the public, and they'll take place at Bloomington's historic Vrooman Mansion.

Philip Dawkins

The first chapter in the Midwestern Voices project takes place this Sunday, July 15, with a reading of Philip Dawkins' new play, "Miss Marx: The Involuntary Side Effect of Living," scheduled at 3 pm The Miss Marx in the title is Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl, the German economist and philosopher who wrote "The Communist Manifesto" and "Das Kapital," defining socialism as an alternative to capitalism and changing the world for generations. From each according to his abilities -- to each according to his needs. Progress can be measured by the social position of the fair sex, the ugly ones included. Workers of the world unite: You have nothing to lose but your chains!

Dawkins' play deals with Eleanor Marx's "efforts to create a world where every human is respected and loved." Even the ugly ones.

A resident playwright at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre, Dawkins is the author of "The Homosexuals," presented by About Face Theatre at Victory Gardens last year in a very well-received production. The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones called the play, "ambitious, substantial and deeply impressive." Dawkins’ new play, "Failure: A Love Story," will take the main stage at Victory Gardens beginning November 16.

Jennifer Blackmer

Playwright Jennifer Blackmer is the next "Midwestern Voice" to share a reading, as her new adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel, "Alias Grace" gets the spotlight on July 29 at 3 pm. "Alias Grace" involves Grace Marks, one of Canada’s most notorious murderers. Grace, an Irish immigrant, maintains that she has no memory of killing her employer or his housekeeper. Raising issues of insanity, memory, culpability, innocence and guilt, "Alias Grace" is described as "a thrilling exploration of... the darkest places of the human mind."

Currently living in Indiana and teaching theater at Ball State University, Blackmer is a director, educator and playwright. Her play, "The Human Terrain," was selected for Playwrights’ Week at The Lark Play Development Center and was a finalist at the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater Center.

Ike Holter

Ike Holter's "Hell-Care," a provocative new play about the American way of health, finishes up the "Midwestern Voices" season on August 5 at 3 pm. In the play, a Chicagoan almost loses his mind when he tries to jump through all the hoops in his way to get to free health care. In the end, he must choose which is more important, his health or his very sanity.

Holter also wrote "Hit the Wall," which enjoyed a sold-out run at the Steppenwolf Garage and then became a selection for the summer season at Chicago’s Theatre on the Lake. "Hit the Wall" was a production by Chicago's Inconvenience company, where Holter is resident playwright. He is also the Associate Artistic Director at Nothing Without a Company.

The free performances begin promptly at 3 pm. Each will include an artist talkback immediately following the performance.

The Vrooman Mansion is located at 701 East Taylor Street in Bloomington, Illinois. Street parking is available.

If new plays are your thing, if Philip Dawkins is your thing, if you are a student of Marx or Marxism or playwriting or you'd just like to sit inside the Vrooman Mansion and hear some provocative new theater from a brilliant new voice, you'll want to pencil this one in on your schedule.

To recap the important bits for this weekend: Philip Dawkins, "Miss Marx: The Involuntary Side-Effect of Living," 3 pm, Sunday the 15th, Vrooman Mansion.

Brand-New Plays Bring Something Fresh to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival

Yes, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival opens this week. You can see "Othello" tomorrow and "As You Like It" Wednesday if you are in the mood for Special Preview Nights and their tempting two-for-one option. But there is something else, something new and shiny and very exciting, happening at the Festival this year.

We generally associate the Illinois Shakespeare Festival with older plays. Older, as in Elizabethan, of course, with the occasional Restoration comedy or even a little Cavalier fun or the occasional Shakespeare parody tossed into the mix to keep things lively. But last year, the Festival launched something a bit different, offering staged readings of brand-new plays in conjunction with the Shakespeare Festival.

Two new plays were treated to readings in 2011, but this year, the field has expanded to three. Under the umbrella of "The Midwestern Voices Playwrights Festival," the Festival will showcase playwrights Philip Dawkins, Jennifer Blackmer, and Ike Holter with a four-day residency that includes readings of their new plays, as performed by members of the ISF professional acting company. All three readings are open to the public, and they'll take place at Bloomington's historic Vrooman Mansion at 3 pm on July 15, July 29 and August 5.

I asked the ISF's Jesse Cannady, who is working with "The Midwestern Voices Playwright's Project," for some background information on the project and how it all began. Here's what Jesse had to say:

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"'The Midwestern Voices Playwright's Project' began last season as 'The Playground,' which was developed by ISU MFA Jessie Dean and her husband, up-and-coming playwright Gabriel Dean. Janet Wilson asked me to follow up on this program (with a new name) after Jessie and Gabe left Normal for several workshops of Gabe's work... From there I was charged with finding three playwrights.

Ike Holter
(© Ryan Bourque)

"I knew off the bat I wanted Ike Holter in residency. Ike wrote the the smash of Steppenwolf's 2011-12 season, HIT THE WALL. The production was extended twice and sold out within hours each time. It was a stunning piece with a lot of heart. Ike's words are lyrical and beautiful and we cannot wait to workshop his new play HELL-CARE that will be premiering in Chicago this fall.

Jennifer Blackmer

"Jennifer Blackmer joined us next. Jennifer is a friend of mine who has mentored several of my playwright friends and is a professor out of Ball State University. Jenn had a different new play developed this last semester at Illinois Wesleyan under Tom Quinn which I had the pleasure of seeing in performance. The workshop production showed a lot of heart and a brilliant female lead. Jenn let me know she was working on a commission out of LA, and I knew we had our second playwright. Jenn's beautiful adaptation, ALIAS GRACE, will play second."

Philip Dawkins

"We are thrilled to welcome Phil Dawkins to the festival as well. Phil came to us through ISU students currently serving as interns at the About Face Theatre in Chicago. He is currently serving in the Playwright's Ensemble at Victory Gardens where his play THE HOMOSEXUALS played to great reviews last season. Victory Gardens will present the world premier of his new play-with-music FAILURE: A LOVE STORY this holiday season. His play, MISS MARX, will premier this season at an area university.

"We couldn't be more thrilled to work with these three playwrights and present their work on stage.

"While in residency, each playwright will work differently with our actors, directors, and support staff to make any necessary changes to their piece. At the end of the process, each Sunday, we will present a reading at the beautiful Vrooman Mansion with a talk-back session immediately afterwards. These readings will be bare bones, focusing on the text, allowing our playwrights the rare opportunity of hearing their words with out seeing all that other 'stuff' that goes along with a play."

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Thanks, Jesse!

The plays presented will run the gamut from healthcare (HELL-CARE) to revolution and social conscience (MISS MARX) to murder, memory and the nature of guilt and innocence (ALIAS GRACE, based on the book by Margaret Atwood.)

I will give you more information on the individual plays and playwrights as we get closer, but for right now, you'll want to mark your calendars for 3 pm on July 15th, July 29th and August 5th.

Exciting new work that we get in Bloomington-Normal before it hits Steppenwolf or Victory Gardens or The Playwrights Center? That's a do-not-miss!