Martyna Majok Receives 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cost of Living
(© David Gordon)
The 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama has been awarded to Cost of Living by Martyna Majok. The honor was announced on Monday, April 16, at Columbia University.
Cost of Living tells the story of four very different people in four very different circumstances, each trying to get by. Eddie, an unemployed truck driver, reunites with his ex-wife Ani after she suffers a devastating accident. John, a brilliant and witty doctoral student, hires overworked Jess, a caregiver. As their lives intersect, Majok's play delves into the chasm between abundance and need and explores the space where bodies — abled and disabled — meet each other.
It premiered at Williamstown Theatre Festival before receiving its New York production via Manhattan Theater Club in June 2017. Jo Bonney directed a cast made up of Jolly Abraham, Gregg Mozgala, Katy Sullivan, and Victor Williams. Majok's next play, Sanctuary City, will be presented as part of New York Theatre Workshop's 2018-19 season.
This year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalists were Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and The Minutes by Tracy Letts.
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which comes with a $15,000 award, is presented to a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life. Recent winners include Lynn Nottage's Sweat (2017), Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton (2016), Stephen Adly Guirgis's Between Riverside and Crazy (2015), Annie Baker's The Flick (2014), and Ayad Akhtar's Disagraced (2013).
