Alexis Roblan's THE ANDREW PLAY Wins The 11th Anniversary Barbour Playwrights Award

After three staged readings of three fantastic plays were presented to enthusiastic audiences at Guild Hall, the votes for the Episcopal Actors' Guild's 11th Annual Barbour Playwrights Award are in. The judges have selected Alexis Roblan's The Andrew Play (a play about siblings, loss, the confusing poetry of grief, and who owns your memory when you're gone) as this year's winner.

The Barbour Playwrights Award was created in 2007 to celebrate new work for the theatre. Every March, EAG partners with a local theatre company or playwriting program to present staged readings of new work, with one playwright being awarded a prize of $500. This year's partner was New Perspectives Theatre Company (NPTC) and their Women's Work Project.

When asked about the process of writing The Andrew Play and working with NPTC's Women's Work Project, Roblan said, "This is a really vulnerable and difficult play to write and I truly don't know that I would have written it without a writers group and a space that felt so safe that I could be vulnerable and share things I didn't know I ever wanted anyone to ever see."

The 2018 finalists were Roblan's The Andrew Play, Straddling the Edge by Sandra A. Daley-Sharif, and Mommy's Little Princess by Teresa Lotz. Past winners have included Lynn Rosen, Laura Eason, Aaron Jafferis, and Bill Cosgriff.

The Episcopal Actors' Guild (EAG) was established in 1923 and is a charitable organization offering emergency assistance and career support to professional performers "of all faiths, and none." EAG hosts a full calendar of events and fundraisers including concerts, variety shows, play readings, and professional workshops. Learn more at www.actorsguild.org.

New Perspectives Theatre Company (NPTC) was founded in 1991 as a multi-racial ensemble dedicated to using theatre as an agent for positive social change. Their mission is to develop and present new plays and playwrights, particularly women and people of color; present classic plays in a style that sheds new light on our lives and work; and present theatre to under-served audiences- especially young people and communities in need- to build life skills and promote participation in our society. www.newperspectivestheatre.org

Alexis Roblan's plays have been produced and developed in the US, UK, and Australia, by and at Clubbed Thumb, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, Project Y Theatre Company, FringeNYC, New Perspectives Theatre Company, The Motor Company, The Dirty Blondes, The Blank Theatre, Theatre 503, FRIGID New York, Edinburgh Fringe, World Interplay, and more. Originally from Coos Bay, Oregon, she is a graduate of the University of Southern California's MFA in Dramatic Writing program, and she is currently a playwright-in-residence with Exquisite Corpse Company in Brooklyn, NY. Alexis has been a Finalist for the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission (Samuel), Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (And It Spins Twice), Nashville Rep's Ingram New Works Lab, and The O'Neill National Playwrights Conference (You Feel So Far Away Right Now). Her work as a screenwriter can be seen on the Go90 series Guidance (2017) and Love Daily (2018). www.alexisroblan.com