Kron, Rapp, Nottage, Etc. Receive Lortel Fellowships

The Lucille Lortel Foundation has announced the first eight recipients of its fellowships for playwrights. This new biennial program provides greatly needed funding for theater artists and continues the legacy of Miss Lortel's commitment to playwrights and the development of new plays.

Melissa James Gibson ([sic]), David Greenspan (She Stoops to Comedy), Jessica Hagedorn (Dogeaters), Julia Jordan (Sarah, Plain and Tall, St. Scarlet), Lisa Kron (Well), Lynn Nottage (Intimate Apparel, Fabulation), Dael Orlandersmith (Yellowman) and Adam Rapp (Red Light Winter, upcoming Essential Self-Defense) will each receive $50,000. This year's recipients are being recognized for the excellence of their work, their potential for continued artistic achievement as playwrights, and their strong commitment to working in the theater. The use of the cash stipend is entirely at the recipient's discretion.

Foundation President James J. Ross said "The Foundation congratulates a most deserving group of recipients. We trust that this substantial cash award will lessen their need to earn money from other activities and will provide considerable time for creative endeavors including reflection, research, experimentation, and the creation of new theater work.  We hope that the recognition and stipend offered by the fellowship will encourage recipients to continue writing for the American Theater long after the one-year grant period."

Playwrights were nominated for consideration by a distinguished group of theater professionals who are active in new play development and production. Nominees were then invited to apply. Applications were reviewed by an independent panel comprised of Robert Blacker, lecturer, Yale School of Drama and former artistic director of the Sundance Theatre Labs; Anne Cattaneo, dramaturg at Lincoln Center Theater and head of its Directors Lab; David Henry Hwang, playwright; Kate Loewald, co-founder and producer of The Play Company; Neil Pepe, artistic director, Atlantic Theater Company; Tazewell Thompson, artistic director, Westport Country Playhouse; and Paula Vogel, playwright. Each brought extensive knowledge of contemporary playwriting to the selection process.  In making their choices, they were guided by the following criteria: the artistic excellence of the playwright's body of work; the quality of the applicant's work sample; the writer's potential for future artistic achievement as a playwright; the applicant's commitment to a career in which writing for the American Theater will remain a major component; and the impact that the fellowship will have on the applicant's artistic and career growth.

To have been considered for the fellowship: the playwright must have been a resident of New York, Connecticut or New Jersey for at least one year, had at least five years experience working in the American professional theater and had at least one full-length play professionally produced in the last five years. One of the foundation's goals is to serve both emerging and more experienced playwrights, as exemplified by this year's roster.

"The Lucille Lortel Foundation was endowed by the late actress, producer, theater-owner, and philanthropist.  The Foundation continues Ms. Lortel's legacy of supporting and fostering theater in New York and Connecticut.  In New York, the Foundation provides grants for general operating support to over 40 small to mid-sized theater companies throughout the city as well as organizations that support the theatrical community and academic institutions.  The Foundation supports the Lucille Lortel Theatre, the only theater in New York that makes itself available to both theatrical and community organizations at subsidized rates.  In order to preserve the rich history of Off-Broadway, the Foundation created and maintains the Internet Off-Broadway Database (iobdb.com).  The Foundation works closely with the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers to produce the Lucille Lortel Awards, honoring Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway.  In Connecticut, the Foundation provides grants to Lucille Lortel's White Barn Theatre Center at the Westport Country Playhouse," according to press materials.

Visit www.lucillelortel.org for more on the Lucille Lortel Foundation.