Albee to Announce Winner of Yale Drama Series Award

On April 26, 2007, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat) will announce the inaugural winner of the Yale Drama Series competition -- a new annual award for emerging playwrights in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland. The Yale Drama Series, jointly sponsored by Yale University Press and Yale Repertory Theatre, is generously funded by the David Charles Horn Foundation.
 
The winner of the annual competition is awarded the David C. Horn Prize of $10,000, publication of his/her manuscript by Yale University Press, and a staged reading at Yale Rep. The rules of the competition stipulate that submissions must be original full-length plays written in English and must not have been previously published or produced.
 
Edward Albee serves as the first judge of the series and his appointment extends for two years. His selection for the 2007 competition was culled from more than 500 submissions. Future judges of the competition will include both distinguished playwrights and directors.
 
The winner of the 2007 competition will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, April 26, 2007 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center. The Yale Drama Series advisory board includes such notable figures as Harold Bloom, Robert Brustein, James Bundy, Alfred Goldfield, Annie Keefe, and Joanne Woodward.
 
"The David Charles Horn Foundation was established in 2003 by Francine Horn to honor the memory of her late husband, a beloved figure as publisher and CEO of Here &There, the leading international forecasting and reporting publication for the fashion industry. Ms. Horn created the Foundation to support new initiatives in the literary and dramatic arts by way of commemorating her husband's lifetime commitment to the written word," state press materials.
 
"Founded in 1908, Yale University Press is one of the largest and most distinguished American university presses. It publishes over 320 books a year in a wide range of disciplines, including history, literature, drama, art and architecture, American studies, philosophy, politics, religion, reference, music and the sciences.

Founded in 1966, Yale Repertory Theatre is one of America's leading professional theaters. Each season, Yale Rep produces exciting new plays and bold interpretations of the classics. A champion of new work, Yale Rep has produced nearly 100 world and American premieres by playwrights such as Lee Blessing, Athol Fugard, Marcus Gardley, John Guare, Wendy MacLeod, Terrence McNally, Richard Nelson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, Sam Shepard, Derek Walcott, and August Wilson. Ten Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering nearly forty Tony Award nominations and eight awards, and Yale Rep itself has been honored with the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater."

Visit www.yalerep.org for more on Yale Repertory Theatre.

Photo of Edward Albee by Kerry Long