Julia Cho Wins Blackburn Prize for Playwriting

The 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the most prestigious award given annually to women playwrights, has been awarded to American playwright Julia Cho for her play "The Language Archive." Ms. Cho received the honor at a private reception in New York City on Wednesday, March 3. The award of $20,000 and a signed and numbered print by artist Willem De Kooning were presented to Ms. Cho by Tony Award-winning director Doug Hughes, one of the distinguished judges for the 2010 Blackburn Prize.

Now in its 32nd year, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is given annually to recognize women from around the world who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. The Blackburn Prize is the first international award created for women playwrights, and remains the most important award of its kind.

"The Language Archive" - receiving its world-premiere in a production directed by Mark Brokaw at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California March 25 to April 25, 2010 - is about a linguist who discovers words may not be enough as his marriage crumbles and his career encounters a certain silence of its own. South Coast Rep is producing "The Language Archive" by special arrangement with New York's Roundabout Theatre Company, which commissioned the play.

The list of finalists for the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize includes: Annie Baker, "The Aliens" (U.S.); Melissa James Gibson, "This" (U.S.); Lucy Kirkwood, "it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now" (U.K.); Young Jean Lee, "The Shipment" (U.S.); Rebecca Lenkiewicz, "The Nature of Love" (U.K.); Hannah Moscovitch, "East of Berlin" (Canada); Lizzie Nunnery, "The Swallowing Dark" (U.K.); Lucy Prebble, "Enron" (U.K.); and Abbie Spallen, "Strandline" (Ireland).

Ms. Cho - who has twice been a finalist for the Blackburn Prize for her plays "The Piano Teacher" and "99 Histories" -- attended the March 3rd event, having flown overnight from California to New York following the very first day of rehearsals for "The Language Archive" at South Coast Rep. 2010 finalists also in attendance were Lizzie Nunnery and Hannah Moscovitch, who flew from Liverpool, England and Toronto, Canada, respectively, as well as Annie Baker and Melissa James Gibson.

The international panel of six judges for the 32nd annual Susan Smith Blackburn Prize included three from the U.K. and three from the U.S.: celebrated American stage and film actor Hope Davis, Tony-award winning director Doug Hughes; Mark Lawson, BBC Radio host and critic; Todd London, artistic
director of New Dramatists (New York); British stage director Indhu Rubasingham: and renowned star of British theatre, Fiona Shaw.

Established in 1978, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize reflects the values and interests of Susan Smith Blackburn, noted American actress and writer who lived in London during the last 15 years of her life. She died in 1977 at the age of 42, and her sister, Emilie Kilgore, and husband, William Blackburn, established the award in her honor. More than 350 plays have been chosen as finalists since the Prize began, and in excess of 75 of them are frequently produced in the U.S. today.

Lucinda Coxon's play "Happy Now," recipient of a Special Commendation from the Blackburn Prize in 2009, is currently playing in New York City at Primary Stages.

Over the past three decades, the Blackburn Prize has been awarded to such celebrated playwrights as Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Caryl Churchill, Gina Gionfriddo, Beth Henley, Wendy Kesselman, Marlene Meyer, Ellen McLaughlin, Susan Miller, Chloe Moss, Dael Orlandersmith, Sarah Ruhl, Judith Thompson, Paula Vogel, Naomi Wallace and Timberlake Wertenbaker.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has anticipated later recognition. Since the inception of the Blackburn Prize, seven women have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and in every case they have first been honored by the Blackburn.

Each year artistic directors and prominent professionals in the theatre throughout the English-speaking world are invited to nominate plays. In addition to the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland, new plays have been submitted from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India. Each script receives multiple readings by an international reading committee that then selects 10 finalists. The finalists' plays are read and considered by all six judges in determining the winner.

A theatrical "Who's Who" of judges has adjudicated the Blackburn Prize through the years: Edward Albee, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Simon Russell Beale, Michael Billington, Eileen Atkins, Blair Brown, Zoe Caldwell, Glenn Close, Harold Clurman, Colleen Dewhurst, Ralph Fiennes, John Guare, A.R. Gurney, Mel Gussow, Christopher Hampton, Tony Kushner, John Lahr, Joan Plowright, Corin Redgrave, Diana Rigg, Max Stafford-Clark, Tom Stoppard, Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy, Paula Vogel, Sigourney Weaver, and August Wilson, among nearly 200 artists in the U.S., England and Ireland.

For further information about The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, visit www.blackburnprize.org

Julia Cho's plays include THE PIANO TEACHER, DURANGO, THE WINCHESTER HOUSE, BFE, THE ARCHITECTURE OF LOSS and 99 HISTORIES. Her work has been produced at The Public Theater, The Vineyard Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, South Coast Repertory, New York Theatre Workshop, East West Players, The Theatre@Boston Court, Theater Mu and Silk Road Theatre Project among others. Honors include the Barrie Stavis Award, the Claire Tow Award for Emerging Artists and the L. Arnold Weissberger Award. An alumna of the Juilliard School and NYU's Graduate Dramatic Writing Program, Julia is currently a member of New Dramatists.