Allston James Receives Third Broyles Award For Vietnam Drama A HILL IN TIME

Allston James' taut Vietnam War stageplay, A Hill in Time, has won the 2020 William Broyles Award for Distinguished Playwriting or Screenwriting. This is James' third Broyles Award. Suribachi won the honor in 2015 as did The Tree Talk in 2018.

Named for Vietnam veteran and screenwriter William Broyles (Jarhead, Apollo 13, Cast Away & Flags of Our Fathers), the award will be presented at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, Virginia in the fall. The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation presents the award for a work that "distinguishes Marine Corps history or heritage." Other categories include feature writing, fiction, documentary film, and photojournalism. The award carries a cash prize, gold medallion, and engraved brick at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

"A Hill in Time centers on a besieged Marine outpost below Vietnam's DMZ 50 years ago," James says. "The play is character-driven, the action in real time, so it's an intense and gritty mix. The fate of these Marines is entirely uncertain. Who are these men? What goes on in their hearts and minds? A play about Marines in combat," James adds, "has a special obligation to be pretty damn authentic. I am honored to receive the Broyles Award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation."

Allston James' plays have been performed in London, New York, California, and elsewhere. His drama I Knew King When He Was Nobody was Long-Listed for the Sir Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama in 2017, and he has twice won the British Theatre Challenge in London. A professor emeritus of Humanities & English, James is author of Attic Light, a novel based on his homecoming after a stint as lieutenant-forward observer with the U.S. Army's First Infantry Division in Vietnam's Tay Ninh Province. He and his partner Rachel reside in New York City and Monterey, California.