2022 YALE DRAMA SERIES ANNOUNCES THE INAGURAL SHORT LIST FOR THE 15th ANNUAL YALE DRAMA SERIES PRIZE
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FOR RELEASE ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
2022 YALE DRAMA
ANNOUNCES THE INAGURAL SHORT LIST FOR THE
15TH ANNUAL YALE DRAMA SERIES PRIZE
Link to Yale Drama Series and David Charles Horn Foundation logos here.
New York, NY (February 25, 2022) – The 2022 Yale Drama Series Prize, one of the theatre world’s most prestigious playwriting prizes, announced today the eight plays chosen for its first-ever Short List. The eight plays selected, listed in alphabetical order, are Jordan Ramirez Puckett’s A Driving Beat, Lilly Camp’s All Eight, Matthew Paul Olmos’ a home what howls (or the house that was ravine), Seayoung Yim’s Jar of Fat, Candrice Jones’ A Medusa Thread, Libby Heily’s Midnight Showing, Aaron Coleman’s Tell Me I’m Gorgeous at the End of the World, and Iraisa Ann Reilly’s The Jersey Devil is a Papi Chulo.
This year the Prize saw a robust and talented group of applicants dedicated to writing for the theatre, receiving over 1,500 submissions from 56 countries. The winner of the 2022 Prize will be announced at a later date. The excerpts of the plays will be available for perusal on the New Play Exchange beginning on Sunday, February 27, 2022.
In a historic first, this year’s Prize, which has traditionally been decided by one award-winning playwright, was decided by a body of six judges who read over 250 plays each – all past winners of the Prize themselves. To allow the Prize to better reflect the pluralism of its applicant pool, and to provide a broader context about the state of the American Theatre at the emerging level, this judging panel has decided to release this Short List in advance of announcing the winning play. The six former Prize-winning panelists are 2008 winner Neil Wechsler for Grenadine, chosen by Edward Albee; 2009 winner Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig for Lidless, chosen by David Hare; 2010 winner Virginia Grise for blu, chosen by David Hare; 2017 winner Jacqueline Goldfinger for Bottle Fly, chosen by Nicholas Wright; 2018 winner Leah Nanako Winkler for God Said This, chosen by Ayad Akhtar; and 2021 winner Rachel Lynett for Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson), chosen by Paula Vogel.
In a joint statement, the panelists said, “We were overwhelmed by the level of talent and ingenuity amongst the submissions, and there was simply no way that we would be able to reflect the sheer diversity of work by choosing one winning play. As the theatre world struggles to become ever more inclusive, we hope this Short List serves to alert the public to a wide cross-section of emerging playwrights who together represent a massive field of different backgrounds, points-of-view, and creative impulses. What they all share is a commitment to the theatrical artform and a knack for creating wildly compelling work.”
Now in its fifteenth year of awarding the Yale Drama Series Prize, it is the preeminent playwriting award in cooperation with Yale University Press and is solely sponsored by the David Charles Horn Foundation, which has provided funding for the Yale Drama Series for almost twenty years. The Prize is awarded annually for a play by an emerging playwright after multiple readings by distinguished playwrights of our time. The winner receives the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000, as well as publication of the winning play by Yale University Press and a staged reading. The Yale Drama Series is an annual international open submission competition for emerging playwrights who are invited to submit original, unpublished, full-length, English language plays for consideration. All entries are read blindly.
ABOUT THE YALE DRAMA SERIES PRIZE
Previous winners of the Yale Drama Series Prize include John Austin Connolly’s The Boys From Siam (selected by Edward Albee in 2007), Neil Wechsler’s Grenadine (selected by Edward Albee in 2008), Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s Lidless (selected by David Hare in 2009), Virginia Grise’s blu (selected by David Hare in 2010), Shannon Murdoch’s New Light Shine (selected by John Guare in 2011), Clarence Coo’s Beautiful Province (selected by John Guare in 2012), Jen Silverman’s Still (selected by Marsha Norman in 2013), Janine Nabers’s Serial Black Face (selected by Marsha Norman in 2014), Barbara Seyda’s Celia, a Slave: 26 Characters Testify (selected by Nicholas Wright in 2015), Emily Schwend’s Utility (selected by Nicholas Wright in 2016), Jacqueline Goldfinger’s Bottle Fly (selected by Nicholas Wright in 2017), Leah Nanako Winkler’s God Said This (selected by Ayad Akhtar in 2018), Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself (selected by Ayad Akhtar in 2019), and Rachel Lynett’s Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson) (selected by Paula Vogel in 2021).
ABOUT THE DAVID CHARLES HORN FOUNDATION
The David Charles Horn Foundation was established in 2003 by Francine Horn, David’s wife and partner in the international fashion publication service Here & There. David was a man of vision and discipline with an overriding dedication to the written word. His dream of having his own writing published was never realized. The Foundation seeks to honor David’s aspirations by offering other writers the opportunity of publication. More particularly, the Foundation supports emerging playwrights, perhaps in greater need of assistance today than beginning writers in any other of the literary arts. The Foundation provides all funding for the Yale Drama Series.
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