Play That Premiered at NJ Rep Is Finalist for National Critics Award

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LONG BRANCH – The New Jersey Repertory Company has an eye for talent, says the theater’s executive producer, and that has paid off with one of its world premiers named a finalist for a national theater award after the play was nominated by The Two River Times’ theater critic Philip Dorian.
The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) has selected California playwright Richard Strand’s work “Butler” as one of six finalists for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award.
Strand’s “Butler” premiered last June at the NJ Rep, 179 Broadway, qualifying the work for the award that recognizes playwrights’ works that were produced professionally outside of New York City and nominated by Two River Times critic Philip Dorian.
“It’s a major, major award,” said Gabor Barabas, New Jersey Rep’s executive director, about the ATAC acknowledgement that also comes with a $25,000 top prize and $7,500 each for the second and third winners. That award amount makes it the largest new play award program, according to Barabas. “It’s a great, great testimonial for the work of the writer and I think in its way it’s something we value and have been able to introduce it to the public,” he said.
Barabas said a number of works that had their first productions at the approximately 70-seat not-for-profit professional theater have gone on to bigger venues in New York City and elsewhere.
The winners are scheduled to be announced April 11 at the Humana Festival of New American Plays, at Actors Theatre of Louisville, in Kentucky, according to information provided by the critics association.
“What has happened over the years is the overall quality of their new plays have improved,” Dorian said of NJ Rep. “They’re getting top-notch new plays submitted because they’re being recognized as a premier East Coast venue for emerging playwrights. It is a pleasure to pick one of the best to recommend,” he added.
The award is for the work, not this particular production, but for Dorian what stands out is two very solid performances by NJ Rep veteran actor Ames Adamson and young performer John G. Williams. “The two of them work so well together.”
“Butler,” based on an actual incident during the American Civil War in the 1860s, is a blend of comedy and drama telling the tale of Union General Benjamin F. Butler who came up with an ingenious way to give legal sanctuary to thousands of runaway slaves.
Dorian said in a review of “Butler,” “Rarely has a slice of history been as entertainingly – and accurately – portrayed…”
As for Strand’s efforts, Dorian added in his review, that the script “would benefit from some trimming,” like most new plays, “but making imaginary or real characters so sympathetic, so funny and so relevant, is damn good playwriting no matter the source.”
“I certainly couldn’t have been more surprised,” by the nomination this week said Strand from his Claremont, CA, home. He was unaware of how his work found its way to be nominated but “I’m certainly delighted to hear that several strangers liked my play,” Strand said.
As for the possible cash award, “That would be nice,” he acknowledged.
He said he had been nominated for this award but did not win in 1998 for his work “My Simple City.”
The six finalists were selected from 27 scripts submitted by ATCA members and evaluated by a committee of 17 critics from around the country.
The ATCA began in 1997 recognizing new plays produced in regional theaters; since 2000 the award has been funded by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
“Butler” will be produced in regional theaters in Chicago, Illinois, and in Massachusetts, Barabas said.
New Jersey Rep for nearly two decades has premiered previously unproduced works “giving everyone an opportunity, knowing how hard it is to get a new play produced in the U.S.,” Barabas said. “So, we consider a play from a totally unknown young playwright the same way as we do for an established one.”
Strand’s latest work, “The Realization of Emily Linder,” will premier at NJ Rep on April 23. Barabas said NJ Rep receives and evaluates about 750 submitted scripts annually.
Given the economics of the theater world, “I think fewer and fewer theaters are doing new plays now than when I started,” Strand acknowledged. And for that reason, “I’m certainly grateful there is such a thing as New Jersey Rep,” and similar theaters around the country, he said.
— By John Burton