Theater News

Stephen Adly Guirgis Wins 2015 Drama Pulitzer Prize

Guirgis’ drama ”Between Riverside and Crazy” took home the prestigious honor.

Stephen McKinley Henderson poses with director Austin Pendleton and playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis at the opening of Between Riverside and Crazy.
Stephen McKinley Henderson poses with director Austin Pendleton and playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis at the opening of Between Riverside and Crazy.
(© Seth Walters)

Stephen Adly Guirgis' acclaimed drama Between Riverside and Crazy has won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The play, which premiered at Atlantic Theater Company in 2014, tells the story of Walter "Pops" Washington, an ex-cop struggling to hold on to one of the last great rent-stabilized apartments in Manhattan while dealing with sketchy house guests, a recently paroled son, and a church lady who won't go away.

Directed by Austin Pendleton, the New York productions, which was remounted at Second Stage Theatre, starred Stephen McKinley Henderson, Victor Almanzar, Elizabeth Canavan, Rosal Colón, Liza Colón-Zayas, Ray Anthony Thomas, Ron Cephas Jones, and Michael Rispoli.

The finalists for the 2015 Drama Pulitzer also included Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison, which received its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum under the direction of Pam MacKinnon, and Suzan-Lori Parks' Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2, 3), which played at Public Theater and American Repertory Theater under the direction of Jo Bonney.

Stephen McKinley Henderson, Victor Almanzar, and Ron Cephas Jones in Stephen Adly' Guirgis' 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Between Riverside and Crazy.
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Victor Almanzar, and Ron Cephas Jones in Stephen Adly Guirgis' 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Between Riverside and Crazy.
(© Carol Rosegg)