The Horton Foote Legacy Project Launches Inaugural Writer's Retreat With Annie Baker and David Lindsay-Abaire

Formed in 2012 by Tony Award-nominated actress, HAllie Foote, and her siblings, Daisy Foote, Walter Foote, and Horton Foote, Jr., the Horton Foote LEGACY PROJECT (HFLP) is a new not-for-profit endeavor whose mission is to support emerging and established American Playwrights and to preserve and advance the legacy of Horton Foote and his body of work. In an effort to achieve this mission, the organization is launching its inaugural Horton Foote Writer's Retreat, a program that gives writers the rare opportunity to reside and write undisturbed in Horton Foote's preserved Wharton, Texas home.

The Tony Award-nominated playwright, David Lindsay-Abaire, recipient of the 2012 Horton Foote Prize, was selected as the inaugural writer in residence in February, 2013. The next recipient is acclaimed playwright Annie Baker, who is also receiving the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Playwriting. Ms. Baker's residency will take place this May.

Each playwright receives a four week private residency in Horton Foote's preserved Wharton, TX home where they will have the opportunity to write and reflect at the same desk Mr. Foote used to write his award-winning plays and films prior to his death in 2009. The Project's aim is to provide six four-week residencies annually to established and emerging playwrights.

"We are very proud to open our father's childhood home to a new generation of gifted playwrights, commencing with David and Annie," said HAllie Foote, President of the Horton Foote Legacy Project. "Wharton, TX and its strong sense of place and community were crucial to my father's body of work and we hope that these month-long residencies will inspire the participating playwrights to continue creating important works for the American stage. It was a dream of my father's to support writers in this fashion and we're very glad to offer them this unique opportunity."

"I'm so grateful to the Foote family, and everyone involved with the Horton Foote Legacy Project, for this great gift of time, space and support to write without distraction," said Mr. Lindsay-Abaire. "And to do it in the very house, in fact in the very room, where Horton wrote so many of his plays, is a privilege beyond words."

Mr. Foote's American classic, THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, will be returning to Broadway this spring in an all-star production starring Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams, Condola Rashad, and Tom Wopat. The production is being directed by one of the foremost interpreters of Mr. Foote's work, Michael Wilson. Previews begin March 30 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The production officially opens on April 23.

Recipients of the residency are chosen by the Board of the Horton Foote Legacy Project, which includes HAllie Foote, Daisy Foote, Walter Foote, Horton Foote, Jr., Director Michael Wilson, CharLes Davis, Larry Wadler, Joe Schwarz, Vanessa K. Harper, Scott McLucas, Sarah Steinberg, Craig Slaight, Marion Castleberry, and Gerald Wood.