The Great Society named finalist for 2015 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History Part two of Robert Schenkkan’s LBJ saga is up for award won by All the Way in 2013
.—The Great Society by Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan is one of five finalists for the 2015 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, Columbia University Libraries/Information Services announced last week.
The Great Society is the second play by Schenkkan about Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency—both of which premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Part one, All the Way, was a co-winner of the Edward M. Kennedy Prize in 2013 along with Dan O’Brien’s The Body of an American. Among All the Way’s numerous additional honors was the Tony Award for Best Play in 2014. The Great Society was co-produced by Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival after being commissioned by Seattle Rep and developed through OSF’s American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle, the same program under which All the Way was commissioned. Both plays are currently running at Seattle Rep through January 4, 2015.
"I am thrilled that The Great Society is a finalist for the Kennedy Prize this year,” said OSF Artistic Director Bill Rauch, who has directed every incarnation of both LBJ plays thus far. “During its premiere in Ashland and its subsequent run in Seattle, the play's eerie parallels to what is going on in our country right now were uncanny—both troubling and moving. The relevance of what happened 50 years ago is overwhelming. We at OSF are also honored that Robert Schenkkan's powerful work is in the company of the other extraordinary finalist plays."
The other four 2015 Edward M. Kennedy Prize finalists are: Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, produced by the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays; Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Suzan-Lori Parks, produced by The Public Theater; The House That Will Not Stand by Marcus Gardley, produced by Berkley Rep; and An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, produced by Soho Rep.
"I am deeply honored to once again be listed for the Kennedy Prize,” Schenkkan said, “especially with such an extraordinary group of writers."
The Edward M. Kennedy Prize is given annually through Columbia University to a new play or musical that, in the words of the Prize’s mission statement, "…enlists theater's power to explore the past of the United States, to participate meaningfully in the great issues of our day through the public conversation, grounded in historical understanding, that is essential to the functioning of a democracy."
Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith created the prize to honor the life and legacy of her late brother, Senator Ted Kennedy. Finalists were selected through nominations from a group of 20 theater professionals around the country. The jury will meet at Columbia in early February 2015. The Prize will be announced on or after February 22, 2015, the anniversary of Senator Kennedy’s birth. The winning play will receive an award of $100,000, and will be honored in a ceremony at Columbia later this spring.
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