The Smith Prize
In the spring of 2006, NNPN began administering the Smith Prize for political theater, funded by a gift from novelist Timothy Jay Smith and a group of socially-conscious donors. The Prize encourages playwrights to address the pressing issues of our times and provides an incentive for theaters to produce their play. The 2013 Smith Prize will be awarded to a Commission Proposal for a Play that examines the American body politic. Through compelling drama, the commissioned play should address in some manner such questions as: Who are we as Americans? What are we becoming? What are our national and global responsibilities, and what do they mean in our lives? How well do our civic and political institutions serve us? The Prize will provide a $5,000 commission to an early-career playwright based on a proposal to write a play.
Proposals are invitation-only at this time.
read morePROPOSALS will be solicited by the end of January 2013 from:
· Alumni of NNPN’s MFA Playwrights Workshop
· Alumni of NNPN’s Playwright-in-Residence program
· NNPN Core Members, each of which may nominate one early-career playwright to present a proposal
· Selected partner organizations, each of which may nominate one early-career playwright to present a proposal
Previous winners of the Smith Prize are not eligible to apply. The 2013 winning proposal will be selected in late spring of 2013, and announced at the NNPN Annual Conference in June.
DEVELOPMENT: NNPN’s Literary Chair or Literary Director will serve as the commission’s lead developing dramaturg until such time as the play is deemed ready (by NNPN’s Literary Chair/Director in consultation with the playwright) to be read. It will then be read for the membership at the next Annual Conference when schedule permits.
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Grounded
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Topsy Turvy Mouse
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Killadelphia
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Black Gold
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In a Daughter's Eyes
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...And LA is Burning
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White Tie Ball
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The first Smith Prize Commission will be announced in June 2013.