Drama Pulitzer, 1

Drama Pulitzer, 1

It was brave, decent and honest of McNulty to go public. Trouble is — as McNulty knows — the history of the drama Pulitzer has long had a whiff of the ridiculous about it. Yes, I’m back to Harvey and Glass Menagerie, and that old Woolf, as in Virginia, too. I was just looking — there were no awards in 1964, 1966, 1968, 1972 and 1974? Really? The cupboard was that bare? Talk about proof that we ascribe too much weight to certain honors. I’d include the Tonys, bamboozling the world into thinking that only Broadway is honor-worthy. Feh.

I agree with those suggesting that this year’s Pulitzer choice should light a fire under our ATCA asses. I also think it validates ATCA’s work selecting recipients for the new-play awards. Whether we unanimously agree on this year’s recipients really doesn’t matter. What matters more is being on a serious national search for high quality; that we’re not so burdened by a which-way-is-the-wind-blowing-today mentality that we can’t identify quality when we find it. Not that Next to Normal hasn’t some quality. But is it the best piece of year? No, no, no, no. We found better. And so I say: good for ATCA!

— Leonard Jacobs, Editor, The Clyde Fitch Report