Vineyard Creates New Paula Vogel Playwriting Award

The Vineyard Theatre is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with the creation of a new playwriting award named in honor of playwright Paula Vogel.
The first recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award will be announced January 29, 2007 at the Vineyard Theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala at the Rainbow Room in New York City. Ms. Vogel will be the guest of honor at the Gala, which will celebrate the theatre company's 25 years of developing and producing new plays and musicals.

The Vineyard Theatre's artistic director Douglas Aibel announced the creation of the new award, named in honor of the playwright and teacher, whose play How I Learned to Drive debuted at the Vineyard Theatre in 1997, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The Paula Vogel Playwriting Award will be awarded annually to an emerging playwright of exceptional promise who will receive a cash prize, and a staged reading of their work at the Vineyard.

About the Vineyard's new playwriting award, Mr. Aibel says, "I can think of no better way to mark the Vineyard's anniversary than to honor Paula Vogel for her extraordinary contributions to the theatre by creating this award in her name. Paula's work has been an inspiration to all of us at the Vineyard."

The recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award will be chosen each year by a rotating committee comprised of members of Vineyard's artistic staff and of its resident community of artists.

About the new playwriting award being named in her honor, Ms. Vogel states, "They say a person is judged by the company they keep, and I am so honored by my association with the Vineyard Theatre -- they are a company I always want to keep."

Paula Vogel's relationship with the Vineyard began with the theatre's acclaimed production of How I Learned to Drive, directed by Mark Brokaw. The play won the Pulitzer Prize, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama Desk Awards for Best Play.

The Long Christmas Ride Home, also directed by Mark Brokaw, premiered at the Vineyard in 2001 Subsequent to their productions at the Vineyard, both shows have gone on to numerous productions at U.S. theatres and around the world.

Ms. Vogel's other plays include The Baltimore Waltz, The Mineola Twins, The Oldest Profession, and Hot N Throbbing.

As well as being one of the nation's most beloved playwrights, Ms. Vogel also heads one of the country's leading playwriting programs at Brown University, where she has mentored such playwrights as Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics), Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House), Adam Bock (The Thugs), Bridget Carpenter, and Jordan Harrison.

The Vineyard Theatre is located at 108 East 15th Street near Union Square. For performance and ticket information about the Vineyard Theatre season, call the box office at (212) 353-0303, or visit www.vineyardtheatre.org.