9 TCG Member Theatres Are 2009 Recipients Of Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards

Launched in 2006, The Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards have a growing track record for success, with 24 out of 46 plays living on in subsequent productions, many of which are nominated for prestigious awards. “That’s a remarkable outcome,” said Teresa Eyring, Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group (TCG). “Dr. Brad Edgerton and his wife Louise are clearly making a contribution to play development that has an impact on the continuing life of new plays.”

The Edgerton Foundation funding supports an extension of the rehearsal period with the goal of achieving a stronger first production, which will hopefully increase the chances of a continued life for the plays.

Many plays have not only gone on to subsequent productions but have attained critical success as well. Next to Normal, a 2007 recipient at Second Stage Theatre (New York) had a second production at Arena Stage (Washington). It then transferred to Broadway in April 2009 and is nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Another 2007 recipient, 33 Variations had its first production at Arena Stage (Washington) and its second production at LaJolla Playhouse (California). It moved to Broadway in February 2009 and received 5 Tony nominations, including Best Play, and 3 Drama Desk Nominations.  Back,Back,Back  (first produced at Old Globe (San Diego) and subsequently at Manhattan Theatre Club and Dallas Theatre Center received a Drama Desk Nomination. Three Edgerton recipients (33 Variations, 13 (premiered at Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles and Farragut North (premiered at Atlantic Theater, New York) received a total of 8 Outer Circle nominations in 2009.

TCG, the national organization for non-profit professional theater, is proud to announce today that 9 new Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards, totaling $ 192,000, have been granted to the following TCG member theatres:

Berkeley Repertory - Concerning Strange Devices by Naomi Iizuka       

Berkeley, CA                       

Geffen Playhouse - Mattthew Modine Saves the Alpacas by Blair Singer

Los Angeles, CA                                        

La Jolla Playhouse - Restoration by Claudia Shear

La Jolla, CA                                                                

Long Wharf Theatre - Lil's 90th by Darci Picoult

New Haven, CT                                                          

McCarter Theatre - Fetch Clay, Make Man by Will Power

Princeton, NJ                                                             

Performance Network Theatre - It Came From Mars by Joseph Zettelmaier

Ann Arbor, MI                                                              

Phoenix Theatre- All the More to Love by Bohmler, Adler & Jacobs

Phoenix, AZ                                                               

Wilma  Theatre - Language Rooms by Yussel El Guindi

Philadelphia, PA                                                        

Woolly Mammoth Theatre - Eclipsed by Danai Gurira

Washington, D.C.                                                      

A second group of 2009 awards will be announced in August 2009.

“We want to encourage and thank the regional non-profit theaters that are taking on the risk of producing new plays,” said Dr. Brad Edgerton, co-director of the foundation with his wife Louise Edgerton. “We hope that this extra rehearsal time with the whole creative team in place, including the playwright, will help these excellent plays become great plays destined for future productions. Getting the plays to Broadway is not our goal, although that’s a terrific honor. Having them become a part of the American theatre repertoire is our specific intention.”

Selected theatres with a strong and consistent track record of producing new work are invited to submit letters of inquiry to the Foundation. A panel of readers reviews the plays, and one-time grants (ranging from $5,000 - $75,000) are awarded.

More information on each of the plays can be found on the TCG website: http://www.tcg.org/tools/newplays/index.cfm.

In the last 4 years, 38 TCG member theatres have received 55 Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards totaling $ 1,719,000.

The Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards began on a local level in 2006 at Center Theater Group in Los Angeles with support for two new musicals - Curtains by John Kander & Fred Ebb and 13 by Jason Robert Brown & Dan Elish.