Jackie Sibblies Drury's FAIRVIEW Wins 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize

The 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to U.S. playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury for her play Fairview. Awarded annually since 1977, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize recognizes women from around the world who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. On March 4th, the transatlantic theatre community gathered at Shakespeare's Globe in London to honor Drury and the 9 Finalists. The winner, Jackie Sibblies Drury, was awarded a cash prize of $25,000, and a signed print by renowned artist Willem De Kooning, created especially for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Each of the additional Finalists received an award of $5,000.

Fairview was co-nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize by Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Soho Rep, which co-commissioned the play. Fairview premiered with sold-out runs at both theatres in 2018. The Soho Rep production extended 3 times and is moving to Brooklyn's Theatre For A New Audience in June. It will receive its U.K. premiere at the Young Vic in November. The play was lauded in the "Best Theatre of 2018" lists of The New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Magazine, The New Yorker, American Theatre, Buzz Feed, Los Angeles Times, and Time Out New York.

In Fairview, the Frasier family is gearing up for Grandma's birthday, and Beverly needs this dinner to be perfect. Plus, the radio's on the fritz, her sister Jasmine is drinking, her husband Dayton isn't helping, her brother Tyrone might not show up at all, and her daughter Keisha is being a typical teenager. As Beverly's hostess-neurosis begins to get the better of her while her family acts like family, Keisha's adolescent malaise starts to seem like maybe it could be something else.

Judges for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize are: Michael Buffong (U.K.) Artistic Director of the Talawa Theatre Company; Maria Goyanes (U.S.) Artistic Director of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre; Tony and Olivier Award-winning stage director Marianne Elliott, OBE (U.K.); Jennifer Haley (U.S.), playwright and winner of the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for The Nether, and celebrated stage, television and film actors, Tamsin Greig (U.K.) and Marin Ireland (U.S.).

Over 160 plays were submitted for consideration this year. The submitting theatres of the 2019 Finalists are: The Almeida Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Ojai Playwrights Conference, the National Theatre, Playful Productions, the Royal Court, South Coast Repertory and Two River Theatre.

The list of 2019 Finalists for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize includes:

72 miles to go... by Hilary Bettis (U.S.), Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee (U.S.), ear for eye by Debbie Tucker Green (U.K.), How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla (U.S.),Sanctuary City by Martyna Majok (U.S.), Stories by Nina Raine (U.K.), The Phlebotomist by Ella Road (U.K.), The Writer by Ella Hickson (U.K.), and What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck.

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