Two Female Playwrights Win 'The Relentless Award' in Hoffman's Honor

The American Playwriting Foundation, established to make annual grants to new American plays, has selected two female winners for The Relentless Award, the largest annual cash prize in American theater. Established in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman and his pursuit of truth in the theater, The Relentless Award has honored not one, but two unproduced plays, laying the groundwork for the future of American Theater.

"Dance Nation," a play about ambition, competition, and growing up -- and how we find our souls in the heat of it all, by Clare Barron, and "The Wolves," a play about a girls indoor soccer league by Sarah DeLappe, will split a $45,000 prize and receive the most extensive national roll-out in American theater, with staged readings at some of the most esteemed theaters in the country.

The Play Selection Committee was comprised of some of America's top playwrights, including Eric Bogosian, Thomas Bradshaw, APF Executive Director David Bar Katz, Lynn Nottage, John Ortiz, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Lucy Thurber, who received and considered over 2,000 submissions. After being deadlocked between the two winning plays, the Committee unanimously decided that this year the award would be shared. The two finalists, Jake Jeppson, for #Bros and Liza Birkenmeier for Radio Island will each receive $1,000.

The Ed Vassallo Relentless Reading Series will be kicked off in New York City at The New Group, and other participating companies include The American Conservatory Theater of San Francisco (ACT), Asolo Repertory Theater, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Goodman, The Huntington, The Wilma, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and The Williamstown Theater Festival. Along with the cash earnings, the authors of The Relentless Award-winning plays will have the option to have their work published by the Dramatists Play Service.

The American Playwriting Foundation's Artistic Advisors are composed of theater professionals who were all friends and collaborators of Philip Seymour Hoffman, including Peter DuBois, Scott Elliott, Robert Falls, Mandy Greenfeld, Ethan Hawke, Dan Klores, Gregory Mosher, and Austin Pendleton.

Laura Ramadei serves as Director of Creative Development for The American Playwriting Foundation.

For more information, visit http://www.americanplaywritingfoundation.org