Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that Charly Evon Simpson is the recipient of the 2019-20 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award. Ms. Simpson will be presented with the award at The Vineyard's annual Emerging Artists Luncheon on Monday, November 25 from noon-2:30pm at the National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South) in Manhattan.
Charly Evon Simpson is the 12th recipient of
Vineyard Theatre's
Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, named in honor of playwright and teacher
Paula Vogel, whose plays Indecent, How I Learned To Drive, (Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and The Long Christmas Ride Home premiered at The Vineyard. The residency-based award is given each year to an emerging writer of exceptional promise, and comes with a cash prize and artistic development support.
Previous recipients of the award include Jeremy O. Harris,
Antoinette Nwandu,
Kate Tarker,
Boo Killebrew,
Clare Barron,
Christopher Chen,
Erika Sheffer,
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins,
Kara Lee Corthron,
Rajiv Joseph, and
Tarell Alvin McCraney. The award will be presented to Ms. Simpson on November 25 at The Vineyard's annual Emerging Artists Luncheon. Following the award presentation, Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play) will sit down with Ms. Simpson for an onstage Q and A. Tickets to the event are available at
www.vineyardtheatre.org/2019-emerging-artists-luncheon.
Charly Evon Simpson's plays include Behind the Sheet (NY Times Critic's Pick), Jump, form of a girl unknown, it's not a trip it's a journey, and more. Her work has been seen and/or developed with
Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lark, P73, The
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Chautauqua Theater Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, and others. She is a recipient of the
Lanford Wilson Award and was nominated for the
John Gassner Award. She has received commissions from EST/Sloan, MTC/Sloan, The Movement/NYU, The Flea, and is one of the recipients of the 2020 Elizabeth George Commission through
South Coast Repertory. Charly is currently a member of WP Theater's 2018-2020 Lab and The New Georges Jam. She's a former member of SPACE on Ryder Farm's The Working Farm,
Clubbed Thumb's Early Career Writers' Group,
Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, and Pipeline Theatre Company's PlayLab. She received her BA from Brown University, a master's in Women's Studies from University of Oxford, New College, and her MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College.
www.charlyevonsimpson.com
The Vineyard's
Paula Vogel Playwriting Award is made possible through the generosity of The Tournesol Project.
Paula Vogel's long and cherished 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; and is premiering on Broadway in Spring 2020. Her most recent production at The Vineyard, Indecent, moved to Broadway in 2017, marking Vogel's Broadway debut and winning two Tony Awards. Ms. Vogel's play The Long Christmas Ride Home, also directed by
Mark Brokaw, premiered at The Vineyard in 2001. Her other plays include A Civil War Christmas, The Mineola Twins, Hot 'N' Throbbing, The Baltimore Waltz, Desdemona, Baby Makes Seven, and The Oldest Profession.
The Emerging Artists Luncheon celebrates
Vineyard Theatre's commitment to nurturing the next generation of theatre artists. The Vineyard's artistic development and education programs provide artists with support and resources to develop new plays and musicals, as well as free in-school and after school theatre arts programs for public high school students that culminate in the REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival, in collaboration with Developing Artists. The theatre awards the
Paula Vogel Playwriting Award annually and the
Susan Stroman Directing Award biennially.
Tables for the Emerging Artists Luncheon are $2,500/$5,000 (premium seating and in-event signage recognition) and individual tickets are $250/$500 (for both social hour and the lunch program). A limited number of lunch-only tickets for the program beginning at 1PM are available for $150. For more information about the event, please contact Trent Anderson at 646-931-4727 or email
tanderson@vineyardtheatre.org. For more information about
Vineyard Theatre, visit
www.vineyardtheatre.org.
The Vineyard's 2019-2020 productions include Is This A Room, conceived and directed by
Tina Satter, the New York premiere of
Lucas Hnath's Dana H. directed by
Les Waters in a co-production with
Goodman Theatre and
Center Theatre Group, and the world premiere of Tuvalu or, The Saddest Song, by
Antoinette Nwandu, directed by
Danya Taymor. All shows will be presented at
Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street). A New York Times Critic's Pick, Is This A Room runs through November 24. Tickets can be purchased and more information on memberships for The Vineyard's 2019-2020 Season may be found at at
www.vineyardtheatre.org or by calling 212-353-0303.
Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to nurturing the voices of daring artists, and to developing and producing work that pushes the boundaries of what theatre can be and do. One of the country's preeminent centers for the creation and production of new plays and musicals, our work seeks to challenge and inspire all of us to see ourselves and our world from new perspectives.
Notable premieres include
David Cale's Harry Clarke (2018 Drama Desk, Obie,
Lucille Lortel awards);
Paula Vogel and
Rebecca Taichman's Indecent (two 2017 Tony Awards); two Pulitzer Prize-winning plays,
Paula Vogel's How I Learned To Drive and
Edward Albee's Three Tall Women;
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Gloria;
Nicky Silver's The Lyons; Marx, Lopez and Whitty's Avenue Q (Tony Award, Best Musical); Kander, Ebb, and Thompson's The Scottsboro Boys; Bell and Bowen's [title of show];
Lanie Robertson's Lady Day At Emerson's Bar And Grill;
Polly Pen's Goblin Market;
Tarell Alvin McCraney's Wig Out!;
Jenny Schwartz' God's Ear;
Will Eno's Middletown;
Becky Mode's Fully Committed;
Colman Domingo's Dot; and most recently,
Ngozi Anyanwu's Good Grief, Jeremy O. Harris' "Daddy", and
Mara Nelson-Greenberg's Do You Feel Anger?.
The Vineyard's
Paula Vogel Playwriting Award and
Susan Stroman Directing Award provide residences to early-career artists, and our education programs serve over 700 NYC public high school students annually. Works developed and premiered at our home in Union Square have gone on to be seen around the world, and The Vineyard is proud to be the recipient of special Drama Desk, Obie and
Lucille Lortel awards for artistic excellence.
Vineyard Theatre's leadership includes Artistic Directors
Douglas Aibel and
Sarah Stern and Managing Director
Suzanne Appel.
