Blackburn Prize Celebrates 30th Anniversary with 'Houston Voices' Reading

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, which celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year, will mark the milestone with a special project saluting the accomplishments of female playwrights in Houston - "Women in Theatre: Houston Voices."

Five short works by local playwrights will be presented as dramatic readings by Houston's professional acting community at the Alley Theatre's Neuhaus Stage on Sunday, March 9 at 3PM. Excerpts from previous Susan Smith Blackburn Prize honorees will also be read. A reception with the playwrights and artists will follow and is free and open to the public.

"Women in Theatre: Houston Voices" is produced by a city-wide creative coalition of 5 Houston theatres: Alley Theatre, The Ensemble Theatre, Theater LaB Houston, Main Street Theater and Stages Repertory Theatre.

The short plays and scenes to be performed in commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize were selected from a regional competition juried by the five producing theatres. Playwrights of the chosen works will receive an honorarium - Sink Hole by Mary Ellen Whitworth, Sassafras Girls by Celeste Bedford Walker, The Potato Feast by C. Denby Swanson, Nearing Velocity by Elizabeth Gilbert and Militia Slumber Party, or Embracing the New World Order by CrystAl Jackson.

"Women in Theatre: Houston Voices" is made possible by funding from The Brown Foundation, Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Houston Endowment Inc. and the Bob and VivIan Smith Foundation.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize awards, established in 1978, are given annually to recognize women from around the world who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre.  As a direct result of being finalists, many playwrights have received productions, grants and public recognition. The Prize has motivated women to write for the theatre, and has also fostered the interchange of plays between the United States and Britain, Ireland and other English-speaking countries.  It has anticipated later recognition; six finalists have subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize for drama - the only women to have won that prize since the Blackburn was established.  The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is now firmly established as a highly regarded international competition.

The ten finalists for the 2008 The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, chosen from 92 submitted plays this year, include Linda Brogan - Black Crows (England), Lydia Diamond - Stick Fly (U.S.),  Bryony Lavery - Stockholm (England), Lisa McGee - Girls and Dolls (Northern Ireland), Linda McLean - Strangers, Babies (Scotland), Julie Marie Myatt - Boats on a River (U.S.),  Jenny Schwartz - God's Ear (U.S.),  Polly Stenham -That Face (England), Victoria Stewart - Hardball (U.S.) and Judith Thompson - Palace of the End (Canada).

The to be announced winner will be awarded $20,000 at a ceremony on Monday, March 10th at the Alley Theatre, and will also receive a signed and numbered print by renowned artist Willem De Kooning, created especially for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Special Commendations of $5,000 may be given at the discretion of the judges, and each of the additional finalists receives $1,000.

For more information visit www.blackburnprize.org

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