THE LAST RED BOOK Receives 2011 Arizona Playwriting Award

Arizona Theatre Company announces the selection of THE LAST RED BOOK by Tucson writer Michael Fenlason as the winner of the 2011 Arizona Playwriting Award. Fenlason will receive a cash award and ATC will hold a reading of his play. The runner up for the Award was NO ROOSTERS IN THE DESERT by Kara Hartzler. ATC's Arizona Playwriting Award is in its second year. It recognizes an outstanding work for the stage by an Arizona writer.

THE LAST RED BOOK is set in 1913 New York, where John Beverley publishes little books to improve people's lives until the night his wayward brother is murdered in the Bowery. Beverley becomes unhappy and suspicious of the plodding police investigation that pins the murder on a battered woman of the streets. In deciding to investigate, he must descend to New York's underworld of criminals and poets, artists and prostitutes, to discover the shocking truth of his brother's death and life.

Michael Fenlason lives and works in Tucson. He has had plays performed at Playwright's Workshop Theatre, Actor's Theatre of Phoenix, New York's Raw Space and Theatre West End in Edinburgh, Scotland. Michael formed The Unlikely Theater Company in Phoenix in 1989 to produce original plays and donate the proceeds to other socially-committed non-profit charities. He currently works with Beowulf Alley Theatre in Tucson, where he is the director of the Page on the Stage New Play Festival this July.

The runner up, NO ROOSTERS IN THE DESERT, is based on actual interviews by Professor Anna Ochoa O'Leary and tells the story of four women crossing the desert in search of the American Dream. On the way they push the limits of their physical and emotional endurance, and they establish profound yet fragile connections with each other through the magical storytelling of the youngest of them, an indigenous woman from Chiapas.

Kara Hartzleris originally from Kansas and earned an MFA in Playwriting and a law degree from the University of Iowa. She is the legal director of a non-profit that provides free legal services to immigrants detained in Arizona. Her plays have won numerous awards and have been produced in many cities nationwide.

2012 ARIZONA PLAYWRITING AWARD AND GUIDELINES:
The Arizona Playwriting Award was established by ATC to honor the quality of work created by Arizona playwrights. The award is meant to identify a play or musical of the highest caliber submitted by a current resident of Arizona.

Playwrights residing in the state of Arizona are encouraged to submit scripts for the Award. The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2011 (scripts must be postmarked by this date). Each script will be read and evaluated by a member of ATC's Artistic Staff. Finalists will be judged by ATC's artistic staff including the Artistic Director, Associate Artistic Director and Literary Manager. The winner will be awarded a $500 prize and will hold a reading the script with members of Artistic Staff present to provide feedback on the play. For more information about the Arizona Playwriting Award, please e-mail Jennifer Bazzell, ATC's Literary Manager, at jbazzell@arizonatheatre.org or call (520) 884-8210 ext. 8510.

Award
One playwright will be given the $500 Award and a table reading for his or her play.

Eligibility
The award is open to all Arizona-based playwrights. For the purposes of this award, an Arizona-based playwright is defined as a playwright who makes his or her permanent residence anywhere in Arizona for at least six months of the year.

Each Arizona playwright may submit one script total for the contest during the entry period. If a playwright submits more than one script (under the same or another name) they will be disqualified from the contest.

Scripts must be primarily in English.

Plays must be unpublished and have not received a professional production at the time of submission.

Full-length and one-act plays (minimum length 30 minutes) on any subject will be accepted.
Employees of Arizona Theatre Company during the submission period of the Award are ineligible for the Award.

Note: Plays that have previously been submitted to Arizona Theatre Company for production consideration are welcomed, as long as they have not been previously submitted for the Arizona Playwriting Award. If you have previously sent a script to ATC for production consideration, you MUST submit specifically for this Award in order for your play to be considered.

Selection Process
Scripts will be read by ATC Artistic Staff. The award-winning play will be selected from a group of finalists by ATC's senior Artistic Staff.

Application Process
You must adhere to the following directions in order for your script to be considered for the Award: Submit one securely bound script, including the play's title and the author's name on the front page. (Please no staple, velo or spiral binding). We do not accept scripts via e-mail. Include up to a one-page cover letter, describing the play's developmental history and any other relevant information about the play. If you do not follow these instructions, we regret that your script will not be accepted for consideration.

Table reading
The winning script will be given a table reading by actors selected by Arizona Theatre Company. The playwright will be present for the table reading and a discussion to follow. If the winning playwright lives in an Arizona city other than Tucson or Phoenix, the playwright will be awarded a $75 travel stipend to provide his or her own transportation from his or her location in Arizona to Tucson for the reading. Members of Arizona Theatre Company's Artistic Staff will be present at the reading to give feedback about his or her work.

Scripts
The physical scripts become the property of Arizona Theatre Company and will not be returned.
Submissions must be postmarked by October 1, 2011.

Mail manuscripts to:
Arizona Playwriting Award
ATTN: Jennifer Bazzell, Literary Manager
Arizona Theatre Company
343 S. Scott Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701

Announcement
The winner will be notified by March 31, 2012.

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