Aurora Theatre Company O+G Commission 'Eureka Day' Receives 2019 Glickman Award

Aurora Theatre Company is pleased to announce that Jonathan Spector's EUREKA DAY--an Originate + Generate commission that made its world premiere in 2018--today received the Will Glickman Award, presented by Theatre Bay Area.

Awarded annually since 1984, the Glickman Award is named in honor of Bay Area playwright and screenwriter Will Glickman. The award "celebrates excellence in playwriting by selecting the best new play to premiere in the region each year" and is chosen by a panel of leading Bay Area theatre critics.

"It's especially meaningful to receive this Bay Area award for a play that is so deeply rooted in our community in every respect," Spector said. "I'm so grateful to the Aurora for taking a leap of faith with me on this piece - commissioning and supporting it every step of the way - at a time when I'd never had a play professionally produced."

In EUREKA DAY the ever-current debate over child vaccinations hits home in this comedy of liberal manners. At a forward-thinking Berkeley private school, the Eureka Day School, all decisions are made by consensus and everyone's opinion is valued. But when a crisis puts their children in danger, it turns out that Eureka day parents have different definitions of safety. The school community must confront the central question of our era: how do you find consensus when you can't agree on the facts?

EUREKA DAY made its world premiere at Aurora in spring of 2018 to much acclaim. Aurora's Josh Costello directed, and he was joined by a cast of Bay Area favorites: Elizabeth Carter, Charisse Loriaux, Lisa Anne Porter, Rolf Saxon, and Teddy Spencer.

Aurora Artistic Director Tom Ross said, "I couldn't be happier for Jonathan that his frequently hilarious, acutely observed and ultimately moving script is receiving this great honor. And I couldn't be prouder that this, the first play to make its way out of our Originate + Generate theater development incubator, has been lauded by audiences, critics and now the Glicksman panel."

Aurora's Originate + Generate program (O+G) commissioned EUREKA DAY from Spector, an Oakland-based playwright, and two-time Aurora Global Age Project-winner. O+G focuses on developing new work for the Aurora stages, putting an emphasis on supporting local theatremakers.

"Here's to many more productions of Jonathan's brilliant skewering of Bay Area points of view," said Ross.

With EUREKA DAY, Spector and Aurora are also recipients of the 2018 Rella Lossy Award which honors professional theatre organizations that present a world premiere by an emerging playwright. Both playwright and producing company receive the award.

For tickets or more information about Aurora Theatre Company, the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

The Aurora Theatre Company is known for work that invigorates audiences and artists through a shared experience of professional, intimate theatre. Aurora challenges itself and the broader community to do better, think deeper, laugh louder and cast wider nets of empathy toward the world. Through its productions of both classic and new works, it supports the Bay Area community by hiring local artists and artisans. It has an operating budget of just over $2 million.

Aurora Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges Associate Season Sponsors Ed & Liliane Schneider, and Associate Production Sponsors Gertrude E. Allen, Judith & Alex Glass, Deborah & Howard Goodman, Hilary Perkins, Sallie Weissinger, and Linda & Steve Wolan for their support. Eureka Day is supported in part by the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

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