Call for submissions for 2016 Francesca Primus Prize

Call for submissions for 2016 Francesca Primus Prize

Deadline April 30.

ATCA invites submissions for the 2016 Francesca Primus Prize, an annual $10,000 award honoring outstanding contributions to the American theater by an emerging female playwright (one who has not achieved national prominence). The prize is made possible through the generosity of the Francesca Ronnie Primus Foundation and honors the writer, critic, performer, dramaturg, and cherished ATCA member who died at 42 of lung cancer in 1992.

The Primus Prize operates on an open submission basis—an applicant may submit herself or be nominated by another individual or organization. Members of ATCA are also eligible to nominate or provide letters of recommendation. To qualify for consideration in 2016, a playwright must have had a fully staged, professional production of her script within the calendar year 2015. It does not have to be the play’s world premiere. The committee also considers the applicant’s body of work going back several years. 

A submission must take the form of a portfolio of no more than 20 single-sided pages. It should include a letter recommending the candidate, a synopsis of her body of work, and supporting materials sufficient to familiarize the committee with her achievement, possibly including reviews and/or a statement of the artist’s philosophy. In addition (beyond those 20 pages), playwrights should also submit the produced playscript. If more than one play was produced in 2015, only one may be submitted, but excerpts from or reviews of others may be part of the portfolio. Portfolios (including scripts) will not be returned. 

(NOTE that in some previous years, theater artists other than playwrights were invited to apply. For 2016, only playwrights will be considered, although other theater work may be described as part of the applicant’s body of work.)

The committee selects six finalists for the award and then chooses a winner from among them. After receiving the check, the recipient is invited to a subsequent ATCA conference (expenses paid) for a small recognition ceremony. Please click here to review the applications process. Send any other Primus-related inquiries to Primus Prize chair Barbara Bannon, Salt Lake City, bbannon@xmission.com.

ATCA was founded in 1974 and works to raise critical standards and public awareness of critics’ functions and responsibilities and to recognize excellence in the American theater. The only national association of professional theater critics—with several hundred members working for newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and websites—ATCA is the U.S. section of the International Association of Theatre Critics, a UNESCO-affiliated organization that sponsors seminars and congresses worldwide.

ATCA also presents the $40,000 Steinberg/ATCA Awards, which recognize the best plays that premiere professionally outside New York City during each calendar year, and the M. Elizabeth Osborn Award, honoring emerging playwrights. Annually ATCA makes a recommendation for the Regional Theatre Tony Award, presented by the American Theatre Wing/Broadway League, and its members vote on inductions into the Theater Hall of Fame.

For more information on ATCA, visit www.americantheatrecritics.org. For a history of the Primus Prize and a list of previous Primus winners, visit www.americantheatrecritics.org/primus-prize.