José Casas Receives Inaugural Dominic Orlando Playwriting Award

The Dominic Orlando Fund, which was created in 2022 following playwright Dominic Orlando's passing in 2021, announces the inaugural recipient of the Dominic Orlando Playwriting Award: José Casas. The two other finalists for the award were Tyla Abercrumbie of Chicago and Roger Q. Mason of Los Angeles.

The $10,000 unrestricted Award was created in honor of Orlando's creative spirit and "unconventional career," with the intention of recognizing a playwright who has forged their own path, produced their own work and taken artistic risks without significant financial or material support from large institutional theaters. The Award is particularly targeted toward writers who have made a continued commitment to smaller-budget theater companies and ensembles, as Orlando did throughout his career. The award will recognize three playwrights over the next three years.

In summer 2022, a select group of smaller-budget and new work-focused theater companies were invited to nominate playwrights for the Award, resulting in a list of 26 nominees. These writers were invited to apply, and an initial evaluation round was conducted by playwrights, directors and long-time collaborators of Orlando. The Fund's Advisory Board then made the final selection of José Casas. The Advisory Board consists of long-time theater makers and supporters Karin Bowersock, P. Carl, Christopher Casolaro, Hayley Finn, Christina Ham, Cory Hinkle, Melanie Marnich, Adam Peck, Deborah Stein and Victoria Stewart.

"José's work struck me," said Advisory Board member Cory Hinkle. "It is political, muscular and thought-provoking, much like Dominic's plays. José's play '14' is a tough balancing act, a docudrama about immigration, where the characters come to life theatrically to illuminate the different sides of the debate. And as soon as I looked at José's resume, I knew he would be an excellent fit for this award. His resume includes productions at smaller theaters and colleges nationwide. In addition, José is involved in community-based theater and works to promote the work of other writers and artists, like Dom did with his companies. For these reasons, the Advisory Board felt José was the clear winner of this inaugural award."

Casas was initially nominated by Sara Morgulis and Idris Goodwin of TYA USA. Morgulis and Goodwin said, "We were thrilled to nominate José Casas for this award. Not only is his own personal artistic practice groundbreaking, but through new work development initiatives such as the TYA BIPOC Superhero Project, he is creating opportunities for dozens of BIPOC playwrights. He is a true visionary, advocate and leader for our field."

"This award is an honor," said Casas, "because it validates not only my work, but the social activism that serves as the foundation of my artistic pedagogy. The funding will allow me the needed space to 'breathe' and give full attention and respect to the stories I am creating. Those projects include my play inspired by Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting For Godot' that follows the lives of two homeless children on Christmas Eve, the completion of my documentary play 'Flint,' which chronicles the lives of those affected by the Water Crisis in Flint, MI and my curation of the TYA BIPOC SUPERHERO PROJECT, which includes my play 'The Brown Jaguar.'"

Dominic Orlando began his career in theater co-running the No-Pants Theatre Company, a small independent company in New York where he wrote, directed and produced many of his plays. In 2003 he moved to Minneapolis on a Playwrights' Center Jerome Fellowship, where he then stayed for many years, creating work with myriad local theaters, including the company he co-founded, the Workhaus Collective. In 2015, he moved to Los Angeles and began a successful career writing for television, working on numerous series including "Them," "The OA," "Mindhunter," "Outer Range" and "Nightflyers." Orlando died on November 17, 2021.

The Fund is made up entirely of funds from individual donors. The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, an organization that Dominic had a longtime association with, acts as a fiscal sponsor and works in collaboration with the advisory board to administer the award.

The Fund looks forward to awarding a second playwright in 2024, with nominations to be solicited later this year. For more information on how to either apply or nominate a candidate, contact Fund Administrator Julia Brown at dominicorlandofund@gmail.com.

José Casas is a playwright and Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. His plays include "14," "la ofrenda" and "somebody's children." His work has been included in a number of anthologies such as "The Bully Plays" and "Theatre for Youth II: More Plays with Mature Themes." His published work includes "la ofrenda," "14," "somebody's children" and "Palabras del Cielo: An Exploration of Latina/o Theatre for Young Audiences" which was awarded the American Alliance of Theatre and Education's Distinguished Book Award. His plays "la ofrenda" and "somebody's children" were awarded both the Bonderman National Playwriting Award and the American Alliance of Theatre and Education's Distinguished Play Award.

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