Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich to Receive Theater J's 2021 Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Prize

Theater J has announced the winner of the Theater J Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Prize: Tectonic Theater Project's Here There Are Blueberries by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich. This is the second year Theater J is awarding the prize, which recognizes a new play that celebrates, explores, and/or struggles with the complexities and nuances of the Jewish experience. Moisés Kaufman is the Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project in New York, and Amanda Gronich is a nationally recognized playwright and theater director.

The Theater J Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Prize awards $15,000 to an established playwright in honor of a new Jewish play, and is dedicated to the memory of philanthropist, playwright, and Alzheimer's research advocate Trish Vradenburg, who served on Theater J's Council for 13 years.

"When you set out to create a new play you rarely think about awards so early on, which is why we are especially humbled and grateful to receive this deeply meaningful recognition before our play has even been staged," said Kaufman and Gronich in a joint statement. "Thank you to Theater J and to the Prize committee for choosing Here There Are Blueberries. We look forward to joining everyone in DC on December 7th and to our show's premiere next year at the La Jolla Playhouse."

The award and an excerpt from the play will be presented at the Theater J annual benefit in person on December 7, 2021, in Washington, DC. The reading will be directed by the play's dramaturg and Associate Director Amy Marie Seidel. Tickets for the benefit start at $350 and are available at TheaterJ.org/Benefit or by calling Theater J's development office at 202.777.3225. Ticket buyers will also be able to view a live stream of the award presentation online.

"Tectonic Theater Project's Here There Are Blueberries, by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich, is an astonishing and unforgettable piece of theater," says Adam Immerwahr, Theater J Artistic Director. "The true story of a startling photo album donated to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the play examines how we tell the story of the Holocaust and how we should respond when confronted by the disquieting humanity of the perpetrators of some of the greatest evil this world has ever known. From the moment I put it down as I finished my initial read, I knew it was a play I would never forget-full of vibrant theatricality and provocative questions. The Theater J Trish Vradenburg Jewish Play Prize exists to shine a light on extraordinary Jewish plays like Here There Are Blueberries. 'Mazel tov' to these two writers and the wonderful team at Tectonic Theater Project."

An album of never-before-seen Nazi-era photographs arrives at the desk of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum archivist Rebecca Erbelding. As Rebecca and her team of historians begin to unravel the shocking story behind the images, the album soon makes headlines around the world. In Germany, a businessman sees the album online and recognizes his own grandfather in the photos. He begins a journey of discovery that will take him into the lives of other Nazi descendants - in a reckoning of his family's past and his country's history. Here There Are Blueberries tells the story of these photographs - what they reveal about the Holocaust and our own humanity.

Finalists for the Theater J Trish Vradenburg Jewish Play Prize include Moses by Michele Lowe, One Jewish Boy by Stephen Laughton, and I Was a Stranger Too by Cynthia Cooper. The inaugural winner of the Theater J Trish Vradenburg Jewish Play Prize was Joshua Harmon's Prayer for the French Republic, which will receive its world premiere at Manhattan Theater Club's City Center Stage 1 beginning January 11, 2022.

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