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blu, by Playwrights' Center Jerome Fellow Virginia Grise, has been selected as the winner of the 2010 Yale Drama Series competition.
Grise's play was selected from over 960 submissions. As part of the award, the play will be published by Yale University Press, have a public reading at the Yale Repertory Theatre in September, and Grise will receive a $10,000 award issued by the David C. Horn Foundation.
blu is about a Mexican American family's response to the loss of their oldest son in Iraq. The play has also garnered the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Latino/a Playwrighting Award and Alliance Theatre's Kendeda Award.
Renowned playwright David Hare, who judged the competition, said that "Virginia Grise's writing is blazingly talented and resonant and the play stays with you long after you've read it."
Hare commented on what he perceived as a turning tide for female playwrights: "Next year I hand over to a new judge. Before I do, I would like to mention that I gave last year's prize to Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig for Lidless. This year there is another female winner. Of the twelve plays on this year's short-list, nine were written by women. As a result of reading such a huge sample of new playwriting, I feel we have at last reached a tipping point. Women's writing for the theatre is stronger and more eloquent than it has ever been. Everyone working on this prize hopes to see that strength reflected in the repertory of theatres everywhere."
Virginia Grise, a native of San Antonio, is a Chicana cultural worker, writer, performer, and teacher. Her work has been performed internationally, at venues including the Jose Marti Catedra in Havana, Cuba and The University of Butare in Rwanda, Africa. Her published writing includes The Panza Monologues and an edited volume of Zapatista communiques entitled Conversations with Don Durito.
Now in its fourth year, the Yale Drama Series is a joint venture of Yale University Press and Yale Repertory Theatre, with support from the David C. Horn Foundation, dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights.
"blu" will be published by Yale University Press in August 2011.
See Awards to read more.
See Published Plays for ordering details.
See Theatre Reviews for more information.
Return to Top
blu is about a Mexican American family's response to the loss of their oldest son in Iraq. The play has also garnered the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Latino/a Playwrighting Award and Alliance Theatre's Kendeda Award.
Renowned playwright David Hare, who judged the competition, said that "Virginia Grise's writing is blazingly talented and resonant and the play stays with you long after you've read it."
Hare commented on what he perceived as a turning tide for female playwrights: "Next year I hand over to a new judge. Before I do, I would like to mention that I gave last year's prize to Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig for Lidless. This year there is another female winner. Of the twelve plays on this year's short-list, nine were written by women. As a result of reading such a huge sample of new playwriting, I feel we have at last reached a tipping point. Women's writing for the theatre is stronger and more eloquent than it has ever been. Everyone working on this prize hopes to see that strength reflected in the repertory of theatres everywhere."
Virginia Grise, a native of San Antonio, is a Chicana cultural worker, writer, performer, and teacher. Her work has been performed internationally, at venues including the Jose Marti Catedra in Havana, Cuba and The University of Butare in Rwanda, Africa. Her published writing includes The Panza Monologues and an edited volume of Zapatista communiques entitled Conversations with Don Durito.
Now in its fourth year, the Yale Drama Series is a joint venture of Yale University Press and Yale Repertory Theatre, with support from the David C. Horn Foundation, dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights.
"blu" will be published by Yale University Press in August 2011.
See Awards to read more.
See Published Plays for ordering details.
See Theatre Reviews for more information.
Return to Top
Above Image:
Virginia Grise