The winners will be announced at a celebration attended by writers, theatre artists, artistic leaders and supporters in New York City at Playwrights Horizons on the 10th March.
Now in its 47th year, the finalists for this year’s The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, celebrating women+ writers for plays of outstanding quality written for the English-speaking theatre, have been announced.
The nine finalists, chosen from over 200 plays, are:
Chris Bush (UK-) Otherland
Carys Coburn (Ireland) BÁN
Keiko Green (US) You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World
Haruna Lee (Taiwan-Japan-US) 49 Days
Isobel McArthur (UK-Scotland) The Fair Maid of the West
Suzie Miller (Australia-UK) Inter Alia
a.k. payne (US) Furlough’s Paradise
Else Went (US) An Oxford Man
Anna Ziegler (US) The Janeiad
The winner of the prize will be warded $25,000 and will also receive a signed and numbered print by renowned artist Willem de Kooning, created especially for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. A Special Commendation of $10,000 may be given at the discretion of the judges, and each Finalist will receive $5,000.
Talking about the news Prize Executive Director, Leslie Swackhamer said: “We are thrilled to present the Prize at Playwrights Horizons, a theatre with a deep history and commitment to developing and producing brilliant new plays by women and non-binary writers. 2023 Winner Sarah Mantell’s In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot premiered there last Fall. This year’s exciting cohort of playwrights hails from all over the English-speaking world, and represents a vigorous diversity of voices, genre and subject matter. We can’t wait to celebrate and honor their work.”
Founded in 1978, the Prize is awarded annually to celebrate women+ who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. Each year, over 400 theatres from North America, Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand and the UK serve as Source Theatres for the Prize. Over 500 plays have been honored as Finalists of the Prize and many have gone on to receive other top honors, including Olivier, Lilly, Evening Standard and Tony Awards for Best Play. Eleven Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist playwrights have subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
Past Winners of the Prize include Annie Baker, Alice Birch, Benedict Lombe, Julia Cho, Caryl Churchill, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Katori Hall, Lucy Kirkwood, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, Lucy Prebble, Sarah Ruhl, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Timberlake Wertenbaker and Cheryl West. Last year’s Winner, 1536 by Ava Pickett, will premiere in London this May directed by Lindsey Turner at the Almeida Theatre.
Judges for this year’s prize include: Linda Cho (US) – Tony Award-winning costume designer; Jennifer Ehle(US) – Tony and BAFTA Award-winning actress; Nancy Medina (UK) – Artistic Director of the Bristol Old Vic; Mark Ravenhill (UK) – Acclaimed playwright; George Strus (US) – Founder, Breaking the Binary Theatre; and Indira Varma (UK) – Olivier Award-winning actress.
To find out more about the prize visit: https://www.blackburnprize.org/