Theater News

Tracey Scott Wilson Receives 2004 Kesselring Prize

New York City
Playwright Tracey Scott Wilson received the 2004 Kesselring Prize at a gala awards dinner held last night at the National Arts Club in Manhattan. The award was accompanied by a check for $15,000. John Belluso, who wrote A Nervous Smile, earned an honorable mention and $5,000.

Excerpts from four of Wilson’s plays — including The Story (which was produced by the Public Theater last season), I Don’t Know Why That Caged Animal Won’t Shut Up, and Exhibit #9 — were presented under Michael Parva’s direction as part of last evening’s festivites. Additionally, 13 actors participated in a reading of a new play by Wilson about the struggle within the black leadership movement in 1963; the cast included Jeanine T. Abraham, C.K. Allen, Pascale Armand, Craig Alan Edwards, Patricia R. Floyd, Jamie Heinlein, Mike Hodge, Billy Eugene Jones, Stephen Kunken, Alex Parisien, Michael Potts, Nikkole Salter, and Christen Simon.

The Kesselring Prize is awarded to playwrights “who show exceptional promise but have not yet received prominent national attention.” Thirteen theaters throughout the country participated in this year’s awards process; the winners were chosen by playwright John Guare, playwright and performer Eric Bogosian, and dramaturg Anne Cattaneo.