tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post4930951983455947456..comments2024-01-07T06:59:04.212-05:00Comments on The Playgoer: "Emerging Playwrights" Award Committee Can't Agree on "Emerging"Playgoerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02994724588504353485noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-29772563914309575572009-09-20T12:40:33.682-04:002009-09-20T12:40:33.682-04:00"Why would a large foundation give $50,000 do..."Why would a large foundation give $50,000 dollars to a playwright barely anyone knows with a one hit wonder of which they aren't sure has public appeal?"<br /><br />Well, Mr. Cole, the simple answer is because that is what any grant foundation is supposed to do. This isn't an investment, it is supposed to be a gift. It is supposed to reward promise, not proven marketability.TheEsoCriticnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-13989981924927348232009-09-18T11:07:40.480-04:002009-09-18T11:07:40.480-04:00Is is coincidence that two of them are being produ...Is is coincidence that two of them are being produced by Martha this year? <br /><br />Or that Martha is the main AD producing Norris work?<br /><br />Something seems amiss. I dunno. Maybe it's just the amount of clout she has?Tony Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02141675073979325374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-53072940461568456072009-09-17T14:52:22.860-04:002009-09-17T14:52:22.860-04:00No one said anything about a "one hit wonder....No one said anything about a "one hit wonder." And talking about an old man with one play in New Hampshire (?) is a distraction. <br /><br />What's dispiriting here is that a bunch of powerful theatre pros have twisted an award to serve an entirely different purpose from the one it was designed for: A prize that might have shaken up the theatre establishment has morphed into a <i>tool</i> of that very same establishment.<br /><br />Whatever "emerging" means in this context, it's pretty clear that the original point of the award was <i>not</i> to help prevent a 50 year old writer with a dozen regional credits from jumping to TV.<br /><br />Martha Lavey may think that handing out $50K to an early-career writer is frivilous. But that says more about Lavey than it does about the quality of the writing being done by young writers in this country.Dr. Cashmerenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-37079911146651546642009-09-17T13:33:56.948-04:002009-09-17T13:33:56.948-04:00Of course they're going to give it to playwrig...Of course they're going to give it to playwrights that have shown their promise and have not completely budded into the mainstream. Why would a large foundation give $50,000 dollars to a playwright barely anyone knows with a one hit wonder of which they aren't sure has public appeal? Besides, Norris is personally one of my favorite playwrights and he's barely mentioned anywhere ever. He only has a couple published plays from Northwestern University press. His works are basically just done at Steppenwolf except for The Pain and the Itch, which sort of got out there. I mean...if they had said they gave $25,000 dollars to a NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing Grad student who hasn't been produced yet , an old man who's written a single play and lives in a cabin in New Hampshire, and some other playwright who's never been published, I have to say I'd be disappointed. Because...I mean, that's a lot of money. You have to be SOMEWHAT accomplished to earn that. Besides, if the production of "A Steady Rain" on Broadway proves anything it's that anything can happen for a playwright, even if you still have your day job.Monty Colenoreply@blogger.com