WILD SWANS, FISH MEN, et al. Win Theatre Communications Group's New Play Awards

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, has just announced the second round of 2011 Edgerton Foundation New American Play awards granted to TCG member theaters across the U.S. The awards, totaling $762,000, allow 22 theaters extra time in the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, helping to extend the life of the play after its first run.

Over the last five years, The Edgerton Foundation has awarded $4 million to 150 recipients, enabling many plays to schedule subsequent productions following their world premieres. Ten made it to Broadway including Curtains, 13, Next To Normal, 33 Variations, In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), Time Stands Still, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, A Free Man of Color, Good People and Chinglish. Seven plays were nominated for Tony Awards, and four were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

"The initial response to a world premiere production in New York often dramatically impacts the future life of a play as well as a playwright's entire career," said Neil Pepe, artistic director of Atlantic Theater Company (New York, NY). "This makes it all the more imperative that we have ample resources to fully develop and rehearse a new play before its premiere production. Because the technical demands of our world premiere of CQ/CX are so great, this grant enables us to schedule an extra week of rehearsal plus gives us the resources to engage our tech team for an extended time during the first week of previews."

TCG member theaters with a strong and consistent track record of producing new work are invited by the foundation to submit letters of inquiry to plays@edgertonfoundation.org. A panel of readers reviews the plays and one-time grants ranging from $5,000 - $75,000 are awarded.

"Support from The Edgerton New American Plays Fund makes it possible for theaters such as my own to contemplate producing new work. In Maine, it is difficult to find the resources necessary to give new projects the rehearsal time they require to launch successfully, "said Anita Stewart, executive and artistic director of Portland Stage (Portland, ME). "New play development should infuse the heart and soul of theaters in a variety of communities. Audiences everywhere need to be invited to participate in the scary, messy, exhilarating process of bringing a new work to life, and writers deserve the opportunity to see the impact of their work on a community."

The 2011 Round Two Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards were presented to:

ALLIANCE THEATRE, Atlanta, GA
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
by Stephen King & John Mellencamp

American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, MA
Wild Swans
adapted by Alexandra Wood
from the memoir by Jung Chang

Atlantic Theater Company, New York, NY
CQ/CX
by Gabe McKinley

Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, CA
How to Write a New Book for the Bible
by Bill Cain

Chicago Dramatists & About Face, Chicago, IL
The Kid Thing
by Sarah Gubbins

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver, CO
Two Things You Don't Talk About at Dinner
by Lisa Loomer

Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, CA
Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie
by Alan Alda

Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL
Fish Men
by Cándido Tirado

Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
Water By the Spoonful
by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Horizon Theatre Company, Atlanta, GA
Waffle Chronicles
by Larry Larson & Eddie Levi Lee

Manhattan Theatre Club, New York, NY
The Columnist
by David Auburn

McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton, NJ
The Convert
by Danai Gurira

The Old Globe, San Diego, CA
Some Lovers
by Burt Bacharach & Steven Sater

Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, OR
All the Way
by Robert Schenkkan

Playwrights Horizons, New York, NY
Rapture, Blister, Burn
by Gina Gionfriddo

Portland Stage, Portland, ME
Trouble is My Business
adapted by James Glossman
from short stories by Raymond Chandler

The Public Theater, New York, NY
Twenty-Seventh Man
by Nathan Englander

Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA
Brother Russia
by John Dempsey & Dana Rowe

Signature Theatre Company, New York, NY
Hurt Village
by Katori Hall

South Cost Repertory, Costa Mesa, CA
Prince of Atlantis
by Steven Druckman

TheatreWorks, Palo Alto, CA
Clementine in the Lower 9
by Dan Dietz

Women's Project, New York, NY
How the World Began
by Catherine Trieschmann

For more information on the plays, please visit: http://tcg.org/tools/newplays/2011a.cfm

The Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Program, directed by Brad and Louise Edgerton, was piloted in 2006 with the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles by offering two musicals in development an extended rehearsal period for the entire creative team, including the playwrights. The Edgertons launched the program nationally in 2007 and have supported 128 plays to date in 50 different Art Theaters across the country. The Edgerton Foundation received the 2011 TCG National Funder Award in June in Los Angeles.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, exists to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. Founded in 1961, TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,00 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the US Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is the nation's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential sources for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre.