MTC Announces Winners of 2011 Play Prizes & 2012 Submission Guidelines

Marin Theatre Company Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis and Producing Director Ryan Rilette are pleased to announce the winners of MTC's two national new American play prizes. The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter won the 2011 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize and Andrew Dolan won the 2011 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize for his play That Good Night. The winners were selected from 489 eligible submissions. Minadakis and Rilette also announced that MTC is now accepting submissions for next year's playwriting prizes through August 31, 2011.

"MTC is honored to award its annual play prizes to these two outstanding American dramatists," says Minadakis. "Sam Hunter has crafted a profound and deeply moving portrait of Charlie, a challenging, complex and epic character without parallel. Andrew Dolan's verbally ferocious comedy has a huge heart and an amazingly uplifting touch of magic. We are confident that both of these playwrights will make a huge impact on American theater in the coming years."

The Sky Cooper New American Play Prize celebrates the work of the American playwright and encourages the creation of bold, powerful new plays for the American stage. MTC awards the Sky Cooper Prize annually to an outstanding unproduced play written by either an established or emerging American playwright. The winning play receives a developmental workshop and two staged readings as part of MTC's New Works Series and is also considered under option for a full production as part of the theater's annual main stage season. The playwright of the winning play receives a $10,000 award.

This year's Sky Cooper Prize winner, The Whale, is by New York-based playwright Samuel D. Hunter, a graduate of NYU, the Iowa Playwrights Workshop and Juilliard whose work has been produced by Partial Comfort, Page 73 Productions and Clubbed Thumb in New York, Arcola Theatre in London, Phoenix Theater of Indianapolis, Boise Contemporary Theater and Ashtar Theatre of Ramallah (West Bank). The play is an ambitious, emotionally charged story about Charlie, an apologetic middle-aged man who has grown dangerously obese since his partner died from self-starvation. As his health rapidly declines, he tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter, whom he has not seen in 17 years. The Whale receives its world premiere production at the Denver Center Theatre Company during its 2011-12 Season. Previous winners include 9 Circles by Bill Cain (winner of the 2011 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award), Sunlight by Sharr White and Magic Forest Farm by Zayd Dohrn, all of which received their world premieres at MTC.

The David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize honors David Calicchio's lifelong career as a playwright and supports MTC's commitment to the discovery and development of new and emerging American Playwrights. MTC awards the Calicchio Prize annually to a professionally unproduced playwright for a new work that shows outstanding promise and a distinctive new voice for the American theatre. The winning playwright receives a $2,500 award. Their submitted play receives a developmental workshop and two staged readings as part of MTC's New Works Series.

This year's Calicchio Prize winner, Andrew Dolan, is an actor by training with extensive credits in theater, TV and film. He shows outstanding promise as a playwright in his first play That Good Night, which has previously received a reading at NY Stage & Film and was named a finalist for the O'Neill Playwrights Conference. In the play, fragile matriarch Millicent is praying for a miracle as her children return to their Midwestern home for the removal of their father, her husband, from life support. As sibling rivalries reignite and unhappy childhood memories flare up, a family secret emerges to change all of their lives. Dolan's lacerating wit and belief in the beauty of everyday magic combine for a distinctively funny and moving journey. Previous winners include Lidless by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Carthage by Emily Schwend and Blood / Money by A. Zell Williams, all of which received staged readings through MTC's New Works Series.

The Sky Cooper Prize and Calicchio Prize are made possible through the generous support of Norton J. "Sky" Cooper.

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY 2012 PLAY PRIZE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

GENERAL Submissions must be unpublished, original full-length plays in any genre

Musicals, translations, individual one-acts and any play previously submitted for the Sky Cooper or David Calicchio Prizes are not eligible

Plays may not have received a full-scale, professional production prior to submission (plays that have had a workshop, reading, or non-professional production are eligible)

Playwrights must be citizens of the United States

Only one submission per playwright is allowed each year (you may submit the same play for both prizes)

PHASE I Submit a completed submission form, two-page abstract of the play including title, character breakdown, brief story synopsis, and playwright bio or resume. Include 10 pages of consecutive sample dialogue. Do not send videos, CDs or DVDs. Literary agents may submit full scripts of their client's work. Due to the high number of submissions, not every playwright will receive a response to their Phase I submission. Do not send full scripts; unsolicited scripts will not be read. Send the three requested documents in Word or PDF format with the title of your play in the subject line. Digital submission is encouraged, though hard copies will be accepted. Do not send more than the requested materials. Incomplete submissions will bot be considered. No materials will be returned. NO PHONE or EMAIL inquiries.

PHASE II Selected submissions will be invited to send full scripts for Phase II. All full scripts that have been solicited after Phase I will be read.

SELECTIONS All final selections are made by Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director. MTC will announce the winners of the 2012 play prizes in Spring 2012.

DEADLINE Submissions are accepted between April 1 and August 31, 2011 (postmarked).

CONTACT Address all submissions to:

The Sky Cooper/Marin Theatre Company New American Play Prize
Marin Theatre Company
397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
EMAIL skycooper@marintheatre.org

The David Calicchio/Marin Theatre Company Emerging American Playwright Prize
Marin Theatre Company
397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
EMAIL davidcalicchio@marintheatre.org

BIOGRAPHIES OF MTC'S 2011 PLAY PRIZE WINNERS

Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale, 2011 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize) is a graduate of NYU, the Iowa Playwrights Workshop and Juilliard. Recent productions include A Bright New Boise with Partial Comfort at the Wild Project in New York, Jack's Precious Moment with Page 73 Productions at 59E59 in New York, Five Genocides with Clubbed Thumb at the Ohio Theater in New York and I Am Montana at Arcola Theatre in London. His new play Norway was recently produced at the Phoenix Theater of Indianapolis and Boise Contemporary Theater. Hunter's plays have been developed at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, PlayPenn, Ojai Playwrights Conference, the Lark Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard, LAByrinth Theater Company, Rattlestick and Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. Awards include the 2008-2009 PONY Fellowship from the Lark Theater and two Lincoln Center Le Compte du Nuoy Awards. He is a member of Ars Nova's Play Group and The Civilians' R&D Group. Hunter has taught at Fordham University, Rutgers University and The University of Iowa. Internationally, his work has been translated into Spanish and presented in Mexico City, and he has worked in the West Bank with Ashtar Theatre of Ramallah and Ayyam al-Masrah of Hebron. At Ashtar, he co-wrote The Era of Whales, which was performed in Ramallah and Istanbul. A native of northern Idaho, Hunter lives in New York with his partner, dramaturg John Baker.

Andrew Dolan (That Good Night, 2011 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize) is a graduate of Bowdoin College and A.C.T.'s MFA program. That Good Night is his first full-length play. His 10-minute baseball play '04: A Muse of Fire premiered at Mile Square Theatre's 7th Inning Stretch; his screenplay Gale was selected for IFP's emerging Narrative Program; and he is the co-writer of the award-winning short film Weekend Getaway. Other plays have been developed with Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb and EST/West. His New York acting credits include American Daughter on Broadway, Strictly Dishonorable at Vineyard, Pink and Ted Kaczynski Killed People with Bombs at SPF, What Then with Clubbed Thumb and Measure for Measure at Target Margin. His UK acting credits include Edmond at National Theatre, The Woods at National Studio, Boy from the Book with English Touring Theatre. His regional acting credits include Mamba's Daughters at the Spoleto Festival; Burn This, Marco Millions, Cyrano, 12th Night and Hapgood at A.C.T.,;Substance of Fire and Savage/Love at Magic Theatre; Loot and Amadeus at Arizona Theatre Co. His TV and film credits include Handsome Harry (Tribeca 2009), Unstoppable, Partners in Crime, 28 Days, Ash Tuesday, Deal Breakers (Sundance 2007), Being Human, David Letterman, all Law & Orders, Conviction, Return of Jezebel James and Guiding Light.

ABOUT MTC
Marin Theatre Company is the Bay Area's premiere mid-sized theater and the leading professional theater in the North Bay. We produce a five- to six-show season of provocative plays by passionate playwrights from the 20th century and today in two intimate theaters-a 231-seat proscenium and a 99-seat thrust. We are committed to the development and production of new plays by American Playwrights, with a comprehensive New Play Program that includes at least one world premiere each season, two nationally recognized annual playwriting awards, numerous new play readings and workshops by the nation's best emerging playwrights, and a leadership position in the National New Play Network. Our numerous educational programs serve more than 6,000 students each year.

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