Connolly Wins Yale's David C. Horn Prize for Playwriting

Variety reports that Irish playwright John Austin Connolly has been awarded the inaugural David C. Horn Prize for Playwriting, presented as part of the Yale Drama Series.

Connolly won for his play The Boys from Siam, with Colin McKenna (The Secret Agenda of Trees) and Lazarre Seymour Simckes (Open Rehearsal) selected as runners-ups.  Legendary dramatist Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat) chose Connolly's play from among 500 others submitted.  The Boys from Siam is loosely based upon the lives of Chang and Eng Bunker, who were known as the original Siamese Twins.

Connolly will receive 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 stipulated that submissions must be original full-length plays written in English and must not have been previously published or produced. 
 
Albee's appointment as the competition's judge extends for two years. Future judges of the competition will include both distinguished playwrights and directors.

"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