Howe awards Sweeden with Arts & Letters prize

Celebrated playwright Tina Howe presented the Arts & Letters Prize in Drama to Staci Swedeen this past Saturday, March 26.

Howe served as this year’s final judge for the Georgia College & State University contest and was very exited about Sweden’s work.

“This play is one of the scariest plays I have ever seen in my life, and it seems to me what theater is best at is surprise,” Howe said. “And how often is it that we are treated to a real surprise?”

GC&SU’s Creative Writing Program sponsors the award and will also publish Swedeen’s play, “The Secret of Our Success,” in the nationwide journal Arts & Letters Journal of Contemporary Culture.

After the award was given out, a production of Swedeen’s play was presented. GC&SU Director of Theatre Kathleen M. McGeever directed student actors Lauren Boyd, Taylor Roy and Brian Jones in the production.

The play recounts the story of a college couple moving into an old apartment against their parents’ will. Unfortunately for them, there is already a very possessive resident dwelling there. What follows can only be described as disturbing.

Swedeen beat out stiff competition for the award, which is given out once a year. The process for choosing a winner is a long and difficult one that has many stages.

“In fiction, poetry and drama, we give a $1,000 prize to the outstanding writer in each category chosen by a final judge that we have asked to participate each year,” said Associate Professor of English David Muschell. “We, meaning the graduate students and the MFA program, and the editors of Arts & Letters, read through hundreds and hundreds of manuscripts that are submitted. We chose 10 to send to those final judges to examine and to pick the one they think is the very best.”

Among Howe’s awards, she has been honored with the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Obie for Distinguished Playwriting and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. Her play “Pride’s Crossing” won the 1998 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Another of her plays, “Coastal Disturbances,” was nominated for a Tony for Best Play.

Next up for Howe will be the Distinguished Achievement in American Theatre Award which she will receive from the William Inge Theatre Festival.

Swedeen has also won many accolades, including the Charlotte Repertory Theatre’s Best New Play in America Award. She has also been a Lark Fellow and a Dramatist Guild Fellow. Her plays have been produced across the country in places like New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller venues like GC&SU.

The play was the first time that the theatre department was fully a part of the production.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 1 2005. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry