 | Judith Thompson
(© David Laurence) |
Canadian playwright Judith Thompson is the recipient of the 2008 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, given annually to recognize women from around the world who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theater, for her acclaimed play Palace of the End. Thompson received $20,000 and a signed and numbered print by artist Willem de Kooning at a 30th Anniversary ceremony on Monday, March 10 at the Alley Theatre in Houston.
The play is a triptych of monologues from real-life characters who have all been gravely impacted by the War in Iraq. Epic Theatre Ensemble will present the work's New York premiere in an Off-Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, beginning on June 11, directed by Daniela Topol.
Special commendations of $2,500 each were presented to playwrights Lisa McGee for Girls and Dolls, Jenny Schwartz for God's Ear, which will be presented next month at the Vineyard Theatre, and Polly Stenham for That Face, which begins a commercial West End run shortly.
Thompson's other plays include Enoch Arden at the Hope Shelter, Capture Me, Perfect Pie, Sled, Lion in the Streets, I Am Yours, White Biting Dog, and The Crackwalker.
This year's other finalists for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize also included Linda Brogan, Lydia Diamond, Bryony Lavery, Linda McLean, Julie Marie Myatt, and Victoria Stewart. Each of the additional finalists received $1,000.
The international panel of judges for the awards included Gordon Edelstein, Edie Falco, Thelma Holt, Francis Matthews, Janet McTeer, and Sarah Ruhl.
For more information, visit www.blackburnprize.org.
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