| The National Theater Conference Announces Its 2020 Award Recipients | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 11:33 am EDT 10/29/20 | |
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| THE NATIONAL THEATRE CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES ITS 2020 AWARD RECIPIENTS TAYLOR MAC IS PERSON OF THE YEAR CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE IS OUTSTANDING THEATER ERIKA DICKERSON-DESPENZA WINS THE STAVIS PLAYWRIGHT AWARD GRAHAM KG GARLINGTON RECEIVES THE PAUL GREEN AWARD REGINALD L. DOUGLAS RECEIVES THE EMERGING PROFESSIONAL AWARD NEW YORK, NY - The National Theatre Conference (NTC), an organization of theater-makers nationwide that meets annually to bring the leadership of American Theatre together to engage the essential questions of the art form and to honor new and long-time organizations and individuals who affect and inspire the field, has named the recipients of its 2020 awards. Due to COVID-19, NTC will hold its annual gathering online this December. The awards sessions will take place in the afternoon on Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5. Taylor Mac, a playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, performance artist, director, producer and arts advocate whose many works have garnered a MacArthur Fellow, a Tony Award nomination, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist citation, among many others and who, most recently, has been awarded the International Ibsen Award (known as the Nobel Prize for Theatre) will be honored as NTC's Person of the Year. Mac (who uses "judy" -lowercase- as a gender pronoun) is currently the resident playwright at the Here Arts Center, where this past spring judy co-originated The Trickle Up NYC, a subscription series created to give $10,000 commissions to artists affected by COVID-19 cancellations. The Ibsen Award ceremony, which is virtual this year, will kick off a special live-streamed event entitled Taylor Mac's Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! on Dec. 12 at 8pm EST. The Cleveland Public Theatre, Raymond Bobgan, Executive Artistic Director, will receive NTC's Outstanding Theatre Award. Their mission is "to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through groundbreaking performances and life-changing education programs [with] bold innovation, adventurous performance, and powerful community engagement." NTC applauds Cleveland Public Theatre's remarkable longevity, breadth and diversity of programming and commitment to its neighborhood, the City of Cleveland and its artists. Founded in 1981, Cleveland Public Theatre has become integral to the cultural fabric of Cleveland. They have been instrumental to the revitalization of their city and they continue to be standard-bearers for community engagement that is truly inspiring. The Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award for 2020, NTC's national competition recognizing an outstanding emerging playwright, will go to Erika Dickerson-Despenza for her play cullud wattah which was slated to have its world premiere in July 2020 at The Public Theater in NYC, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year the honor is accompanied by a $2,000 honorarium, and a portion of the winning play, cullud wattah, will be read exclusively for the membership during the virtual conference. In cullud wattah: it's been 936 days since Flint has had clean water; Marion, a third generation General Motors employee, is consumed by layoffs; her sister, Ainee, seeks justice & restitution for lead poisoning; the toxic entanglements between the city & its most powerful industry, force their family to confront the past-present-future cost of survival. The reading will be followed by a moderated discussion of the play and Dickerson-Despenza's career. The Cleveland Public Theatre has selected Reginald L. Douglas as the recipient of NTC's Emerging Professional Award. A graduate of Georgetown University and member of SDC, Douglas is a director, producer, and advocate dedicated to creating new work and supporting new voices, and the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. Taylor Mac has chosen Graham KG Garlington to receive the Paul Green Award which recognizes and encourages excellence in new professional theatre talent. A 2018 graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Garlington is a trans non-binary singer-songwriter, activist, experimental musical theatre composer, and drag artist, currently working on their third musical. Announcing this year's awards, NTC President David Fuller, Co-Producing Artistic Director of Theater 2020 based in Brooklyn Heights, stated: "Like everyone, due to the pandemic, NTC is faced with finding alternative, creative ways to continue our work. So, this year we will hold a virtual conference for our members and honorees, all who comprise theater-makers from across the national spectrum. During our three day event, we will engage our membership in vital questions regarding the future of a New American Theatre, a theatre being born now during the political, social and cultural paradigm shift framed by COVID-19 and the coalitions built out of the protests against violence towards BIPOC humanity. We are proud that we can honor Taylor Mac, Cleveland Public Theatre and Erika Dickerson-Despenza, as well as young artists Graham KG Garlington and Reginal L. Douglas. All NTC 2020 Awardees exemplify this surge to a bright future where we don't just give out larger portions of the cultural pie, but find ways to create a whole new, joyful pastry!" THE NATIONAL THEATRE CONFERENCE, founded in 1925, is an organization limited to no more than 150 distinguished leaders nationwide, in commercial, non-profit and university fields, comprising, in no particular order, playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, actors, designers, producers, critics, choreographers, fight directors, historians, teachers, and technicians. NTC is dedicated to the continued development of theatre in this country under its tag line, "Connecting, Supporting and Advocating for America's Theaters since 1925." In addition to awards recognizing and celebrating excellence in the theatre, NTC works actively to promote positive change in the American theatre. For information go to www.nationaltheatreconference.org. |
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