NEW YORK CITY: The Pulitzer committee announced the winners of the 99th annual Pulitzer Prizes at Columbia University on Monday. In the drama category, Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis received the honor. The drama finalists are Marjorie Prime, by Jordan Harrison, and Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, 3), by Suzan-Lori Parks.
In addition to a certificate, prize winners also receive $10,000. Guirgis will accept his prize at an awards luncheon in May.
The Pulitzer committee evaluated 100 plays. Between Riverside and Crazy, about a former police officer who faces eviction from his Upper West Side apartment, had its world premiere at Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City; the same production also played at Second Stage Theatre this year.
Marjorie Prime had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and will come to Playwrights Horizons in November. The play is about an 86-year-old woman who has a computer companion programmed to replace her late husband.
Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, 3) had its world premiere at New York’s Public Theater. It follows a slave enlisted to fight on the Confederate side in the Civil War.
The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 by Joseph Pulitzer and recognizes achievements in journalism, literature, drama and music composition. This year’s committee evaluated a total of 2,946 entries. The award is administered by Columbia University. Recent winners in the drama category include The Flick by Annie Baker, Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar and Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes.
American Theatre has reached out to Guirgis for a comment.
