LA BELLA FAMILIA Wins ATC'S 15th Annual National Latino Playwriting Award

Arizona Theatre Company announces the selection of La Bella Familia by Edwin Sànchez as the winner of the 2011 National Latino Playwriting Award. Sànchez will be awarded $1000. Arizona Theatre Company's National Latino Playwriting Award annually recognizes an outstanding work by a Latino playwright written on any subject.

The runner up for this year's award was Paloma by Anne Garcia-Romero.

La Bella Familia asks the age-old question, does the end justify the means? Do "bad" people fall in love and do "good" people do terrible things? The play centers on Bella, a Puerto Rican hit woman, her family and the neighbors from hell. As the two families try to use each other to rescue them from a life of loneliness, Bella decides to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to guarantee her son a peaceful future. But things aren't always as they appear. As these characters weave in and out of each other's lives, the questions of "Who's good?" and "Who's bad?" take on a new relevance.

EDWIN SÀNCHEZ (playwright) His most recent productions include Unmerciful Good Fortune, Trafficking in Broken Hearts, I'll Take Romance and Diosa. His work has been produced at Hartford Stage, Actors Theater of Louisville as part of their Humana Festival, San Jose Repertory, Bank Street Theater, Intar Theater, Primary Stages and Evolution Theatre. Unmerciful Good Fortune received the Princess Grace Playwriting Award in 1994. Barefoot Boy With Shoes On was selected by the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference to represent the National Playwrights Conference at the Schelykovo Playwrights Seminar in Russia. He is also among the playwrights involved with Brave New World, an organization commemorating the events surrounding September 11, 2001.

Paloma by Anne Garcia-Romero is the 2004 story of Ibrahim, a practicing Muslim, and Paloma, a nominal Catholic, who fall in love while studying at New York University. Inspired by a 14th century Muslim meditation on love, the couple travels to Spain to overcome their religious differences. After tragedy strikes, Ibrahim must confront their past in order to survive.

ANNE GARCIA-ROMERO (playwright) Her plays have been developed and produced at the NYST/Public Theater, Summer Play Festival (Off-Broadway), The Mark Taper Forum, Hartford Stage, Borderlands Theater and South Coast Repertory. Her plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing, NoPassport Press and Playscripts. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama and is an alumna of New Dramatists.

The National Latino Playwriting Award was established by Arizona Theatre Company fifteen years ago to create a greater awareness of the work being done by Latino playwrights. Recent recipients of the Award are Raul Garza, Carlos Murrillo, and Karen Zacarias. Felix Pire's winning play, The Origins of Happiness in Latin, was produced by ATC. One of our most recent winners Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010.

2012 National Latino Playwriting Award Guidelines:

Latino playwrights residing in the United States, its territories, or Mexico are encouraged to submit scripts for the Award. Each script will be read and evaluated by a culturally diverse panel of theatre artists. Finalists will be judged by ATC artistic staff.

Deadline for Submission:

Scripts must be postmarked by December 31, 2011.

Submission Procedure:

You must follow the following procedures in order for your script to be considered for the Award:

Submit one script, securely bound by brads, a three ring binder, a presentation folder or any other non-permanent binding system. Please do not send a script that has been spiral-bound.

Please include a title page on the script that includes the play's title, the author's name and contact information (including a phone number, mailing address and email) on the front page.

Include a cover letter of no more than one-page, describing the play's developmental history and any other relevant information about the play.

Mail manuscripts to:

National Latino Playwriting Award

ATTN: Jennifer Bazzell, Literary Manager

Arizona Theatre Company

343 S. Scott Ave.

Tucson, AZ 85701

We do not accept scripts via email.

Award

One playwright will be awarded $1,000 and the possible inclusion of the winning play in ATC's GENESIS: New Play Reading Series.

Eligibility

The award is open to all Latino playwrights currently residing in the United States, its territories, or Mexico.

For more information about the National Latino Playwriting Award visit www.arizonatheatre.org