Hermitage Announces Madeleine George as New Recipient of $35,000 Hermitage Major Theater Award

Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, announced that accomplished playwright and screenwriter Madeleine George, currently a writer on the hit Hulu series "Only Murders in the Building," has been newly selected as the 2021 recipient of the Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA).

This national jury-selected prize, established by the Hermitage last year with generous support from the Kutya Major Foundation, offers one of the largest non-profit theater commissions in the country. George will receive a cash prize of $35,000, as well as a residency at the Hermitage (Sarasota County, Florida) and a developmental workshop in a major arts capital such as New York, Chicago, or London in the fall of 2023. Originally awarded in December of 2021 to Radha Blank who is not able to fulfill the commission due to conflicting professional commitments, the inaugural Award Committee reconvened to enthusiastically endorse George - one of four distinguished finalists nominated in the initial process - for this prestigious honor.

Madeleine George's plays include Hurricane Diane (Obie Award), The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Pulitzer Prize finalist; Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award), Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Susan Smith Blackburn finalist), Precious Little, and The Zero Hour (Jane Chambers Award, Lambda Literary Award finalist). Honors include a Whiting Award, the Princess Grace Award, and a Lilly Award. Her translation of Chekhov's Three Sisters premiered at Two River Theater in 2022, and her audio adaptation of Alison Bechdel's comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For is forthcoming from Audible Originals. Madeleine is a founding member of the Obie Award-winning playwrights' collective 13P. She is currently a writer and producer on Hulu's acclaimed mystery-comedy Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez.

"I was surprised and thrilled to get the news about the Hermitage Major Theater Award," said George on receiving the news from Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. "It's such an honor to be joining in the Hermitage's awe-inspiring family of artists, and I'm excited to have resources and time to put towards my commissioned play, which has been on my mind for a while and which I'm eager to share with the world."

The Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA) was established in 2021 to recognize a playwright or theater artist with a $35,000 commission to create a new, original, and impactful piece of theater. HMTA winners are nominated and selected by a jury of nationally recognized arts leaders in the field of theater. The 2021 HMTA Award Committee included Doug Wright, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright, and past president of the Dramatists Guild of America; Leigh Silverman, Tony Award nominee and Obie Award-winning director; and Liesl Tommy, Tony Award nominee and Obie Award-Winning stage and screen director.

"Madeleine George is an acute and often hilarious commentator on American culture, skewering 'sacred cows' like gender, technology, academia, and our patriarchal government and - in doing so - reveals the maddening inconsistencies of the human heart," said 2021 HMTA Award Committee member Doug Wright, who has since joined the Hermitage Board of Trustees.

The other distinguished finalists for the 2021 Hermitage Major Theater Award included Eisa Davis, an Obie Award-winning multi-disciplinary theater-maker, and Luis Alfaro, an accomplished playwright and MacArthur 'Genius' Fellow. Each has been awarded a Hermitage residency and Fellowship, in addition to a cash prize of $1,000.

"Amidst such a brilliant group of finalists, the inaugural Award Committee was faced with an incredibly difficult decision in determining a recipient for this award," said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. "Madeleine George is one of the American theater's most gracious and gifted talents, and we're honored to present her with the HMTA. The heart and humor in her writing is enhanced by her generous spirit and her deep passion for the theater. I must also sing the praises of Luis Alfaro and Eisa Davis, both exceptional artists with bold voices and thrilling ideas."

In addition to the $35,000 commission, the recipient of the annual HMTA will receive six weeks of residency at the Hermitage's historic beachfront campus to develop the new work, as well as a reading or workshop in a leading arts and cultural center. Madeleine George's commission is expected to receive a development workshop in the fall of 2023.

"The play I plan to work on is a Faust story set in a bowling alley called The Sore Loser," said George of her plans for the commission. "It's a comedy about power, domination, and the death of the patriarchy, as told through a small-town bowling tournament." In the spirit of the Hermitage's commitment to the arts across multiple disciplines, recipients of the Hermitage Major Theater Award are encouraged to create a commission that directly or indirectly represents the role and impact of art - musical, literary, theatrical, visual, dance, or otherwise - in our culture and society. As to how this will infuse George's commission, she explains that "one thing I'm trying to do with this play is to enact the transition from the hero narrative we're all familiar with to a new kind of narrative driven by collective action. I'm curious about what kind of stories we can tell - particularly comic stories - that can help us unlearn the structures of domination that have a stranglehold on mainstream Western culture."

This distinguished Hermitage Major Theater Award recognition is not an award for an existing work, but rather it is designed as a commission that shall serve as a catalyst and inspiration to a theater artist to create a new, original, and impactful piece of theater. Further, the prize is intended to bridge the connection between the Hermitage and Sarasota County, where the commission is born, and other leading arts and culture centers around the world, including New York, London, Chicago, and notable arts capitals where great theater is frequently developed and presented. Theater-maker and director Shariffa Ali was awarded the HMTA in the spring of 2022, and her commission is also expected to receive a developmental workshop in the fall of 2023.

"This award is designed to be transformational for its recipients, providing not only significant funds and recognition, but also invaluable time, space, and inspiration at the Hermitage, as well as an opportunity for these innovative theater artists to workshop and develop their original ideas," said Andy Sandberg. An acclaimed director, writer, and Tony Award-winning producer, Sandberg took the helm as Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage in early 2020. "In addition to introducing a new work of theater to the American canon each year, this is an exciting opportunity for the Hermitage to take a further step in supporting the artistic process as we offer developmental resources to these extraordinary artists and their new commissions along their journey."

The Hermitage Major Theater Award is made possible with a generous multi-year gift to the Hermitage from Flora Major and the Kutya Major Foundation.

"Anyone who values and appreciates the arts, across all disciplines, needs to invest in supporting artists in the earliest stages of their creative process - this is what the Hermitage does so well," remarked Flora Major, founder and trustee of the Kutya Major Foundation. "I am so excited that the jury has chosen to recognize Madeleine with this award - she is as delightful as she is talented! It's an honor to support truly wonderful people like Madeleine and Shariffa in bringing their visions to life, and I hope this initiative will inspire others who are passionate about the arts to recognize and support the important work that the Hermitage is doing. Andy and his team are focused on celebrating what is truly new and original, and at the ground floor."

In addition to this newly created commission, the Hermitage Artist Retreat annually awards the prestigious jury-selected Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP), a $30,000 commission that rotates each year between the disciplines of music, theater, and visual art. Past recipients in theater have included Aleshea Harris (2021), Martyna Majok (2018), Nilo Cruz (2015), John Guare (2012), and Craig Lucas (2009).

The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse and accomplished artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, dance, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world's leading artists and to get an authentic "sneak peek" into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major theaters, galleries, concert halls, and museums around the world. These free and innovative programs include performances, lectures, readings, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our community each year. The Hermitage is the only major arts organization in Florida's Gulf Coast region exclusively committed to supporting the development and creation of new work across all artistic disciplines.

For more information about the Hermitage and the Hermitage Major Theater Award, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

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