LAURA AND THE SEA Playwright Kate Tarker Receives Vineyard's 2017 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award

Artistic Directors Doug Aibel and Sarah Stern announce Kate Tarker as the ninth recipient of Vineyard Theatre's Paula Vogel Playwriting Award named in honor of playwright and teacher Paula Vogel, whose plays INDECENT, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE (Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and THE LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME premiered at The Vineyard.

The residency-based award is given each year to an emerging writer of exceptional promise and comes with a cash prize and artistic development support. Previous recipients of the award include Boo Killebrew, Clare Barron, Christopher Chen, Erika Sheffer, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kara Lee Corthron, Rajiv Joseph, and Tarell Alvin McCraney. The award will be presented to Ms. Tarker in June 2017 at The Vineyard's annual Emerging Artists Luncheon. Tickets to the event will be available at a later date.

Kate Tarker's play LAURA AND THE SEA, (2016 Kilroys List; 2016 L. Arnold Weissberger Award finalist; 2016 Princess Grace Award finalist) was presented this past fall as part of The Vineyard's members-only Reading Series. Other plays include THUNDERBODIES (nominee, 2017 L. Arnold Weissberger Award), and AN ALMANAC FOR FARMERS AND LOVERS IN MEXICO (2015 Kilroys List). Ms. Tarker's plays have been developed by The Lark, Ars Nova, NYTW, and The O'Neill, among others. She is the recipient of a Jerome Fellowship and National Science Playwriting Award, and residencies at MacDowell Colony, Tofte Lake Center, and SPACE at Ryder Farm. Ms. Tarker is currently a part of Ars Nova Play Group, a New Georges Affiliated Artist, and a Playwrights' Center Core Writer. She has commissions from The Wilma and Theater Masters (The Visionary Playwright Award) and collaborations with Pig Iron and Siti Company. She received her MFA from Yale School of Drama.

The Vineyard's Paula Vogel Playwriting Award is made possible through the generosity of The Tournesol Project.

Paula Vogel's long and cherished relationship with The Vineyard began with the theatre's acclaimed production of HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, directed by Mark Brokaw; the play won the Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards for Best Play, and was revived with its original cast at a one-night-only reading presented as part of The Vineyard's 30th anniversary season. Her most recent production at The Vineyard, INDECENT, will open on Broadway in April 2017, marking Ms. Vogel's Broadway debut. Ms. Vogel's play THE LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME, also directed by Mark Brokaw, premiered at The Vineyard in 2001. Her other plays include THE BALTIMORE WALTZ, THE MINEOLA TWINS, THE OLDEST PROFESSION, HOT 'N' THROBBING and A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS.

Dedicated to the creation and production of daring new plays and musicals, The Vineyard has consistently premiered provocative, groundbreaking works, including Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman's INDECENT, which will begin performances on Broadway in April, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Pulitzer Prize finalist GLORIA, which transfers this month to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Other notable works include DOT by Colman Domingo; Nicky Silver's THE LYONS; Marx, Lopez and Whitty's Tony Award-winning musical AVENUE Q; Kander and Ebb's THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS; Bell and Bowen's [title of show]; Paula Vogel's HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE (1998 Pulitzer Prize); Edward Albee's THREE TALL WOMEN (1994 Pulitzer Prize); Tarell Alvin McCraney's WIG OUT!; Becky Mode's FULLY COMMITTED; Jenny Schwartz' GOD'S EAR; Will Eno's MIDDLETOWN; and many more. The Vineyard's productions have been honored with two Pulitzer Prizes, three Tony Awards, and numerous Drama Desk, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel awards.

The Vineyard's 2016-17 season continues with John Kander and Greg Pierce's new musical KID VICTORY, directed by Liesl Tommy, which begins performances February 1; and will be followed this spring by Gina Gionfriddo's CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?, directed by Peter DuBois.

Vineyard Theatre's leadership includes Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel.

For more information, visit www.vineyardtheatre.org.

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