Photos: Go Inside the Relentless Award's PICKET PLAYS Reading

Earlier this week, The American Playwriting Foundation (David Bar Katz, Founding Artistic Director) and Building for the Arts (David J. Roberts, President; Jeffrey A. Horwitz, Board Chair) presented a new Relentless Award for ten-minute plays by WGA members. The Relentless Award's Picket Plays were created to support WGA writers as they recover from the financial hardship of the Writers' Strike. Check out photos from inside the big night!

The winning plays are: The Scorpion Dance by Jon Haller, A Ride in the Car in the Morning by Hannah Globus, fire ants by Lily Houghton and Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Love Your Work by Eric Pfeffinger, WILDCAT by Kristen Adele Calhoun, and Me. by Jill Twiss. The Award grants each of the six winning writers (or writing teams) $10,000.

The finalist plays are The Empty Space, or White People Ruin Everything by Dominic Colón ("The Corps," Werq It); Hello, Stacey by Alice Stanley Jr. ("Busy Tonight," "Day by Day"); Scabby by Dean Imperial ("Godfather of Harlem," "Imposters"); Benefits by C. Quintana ("Orphan Black: Echoes," "The Baker and the Beauty"); Merced by Alfredo Barrios Jr. ("Burn Notice," "Magnum P.I."); and Life With a French Bulldog by Chris Licud ("Something Strange Is Happening," "Gringas"). Each finalist has been awarded $1,000.

The American Playwriting Foundation, established in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman and his relentless pursuit of truth in the theater, has presented the Relentless Award annually to a playwright in recognition of a new work. In its mere eight years, the Relentless Award has become one of the most impactful award in theater in terms of launching some of theater's brightest new artists who are revitalizing the American stage: Obie Award-winner Aleshea Harris, whose plays have been produced non-stop since her Relentless win; Clare Barron, whose winning play Dance Nation went on to become a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize; Harrison David Rivers, whose play The Bandaged Place was produced at Roundabout Theater Company; and Sarah DeLappe, whose play The Wolves has received over 500 productions.

Building for the Arts (BFA) expands access to the performing arts by providing creative space, learning opportunities, and hubs for artistic connection. BFA's signature projects – Theatre Row, Music and the Brain, and the American Playwriting Foundation– nurture artists, audiences, and youth with a focus on accessibility and inclusion.

Photo Credit: Jonah Hale 

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