PHILADELPHIA: The Hermitage Artist Retreat, in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, has named Martyna Majok the recipient of the 2018 Greenfield Prize. Majok, the prize’s first female recipient, will receive a $30,000 commission for a new work. She will also be given time and space to create the work at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood, Fla. The work will be first presented at Asolo Repertory Theatre in 2020.
Majok was selected from a jury that included Carey Perloff, artistic director of American Conservatory Theatre; Jaime Castañeda, associate artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, and Mandy Greenfield, artistic director of Williamstown Theatre Festival.
“We could not be more pleased to have Martyna Majok as our 2018 Greenfield Prize winner,” said Hermitage executive director Bruce E. Rodgers in a statement. “Her work has been recognized around the country and in Europe. It’s this caliber of artist that the Greenfield Prize was created to honor and encourage to continue to do meaningful work. That is the crux of this prize, and we are proud and excited to see and hear what Martyna has to say.”
Majok’s plays have been produced at LCT3/Lincoln Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Women’s Project Theatre, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, among others. She has received the Lanford Wilson Prize, Helen Merrill Emerging Playwriting Award, Stacey Mindich Prize, Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play, the Kennedy Center Jean Kennedy Smith Award, David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize, New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship, and NNPN Smith Prize for Political Playwriting. She served as the 2015-16 PoNY Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center and is a 2018-19 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University. Her commissions include Lincoln Center, the Bush Theatre in London, Geffen Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Rep, and Manhattan Theatre Club. She holds a BA from the University of Chicago, and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and the Juilliard School.
“I’m immensely grateful for the generosity and faith of the Greenfield Prize. It means the world to be believed in,” said Majok in a statement. “What a gift to receive this level of support and encouragement to continue writing the stories I feel compelled to tell. It is an incredibly humbling honor to be in the company of past recipients and brilliant legends Craig Lucas, John Guare, and Nilo Cruz. I’m proud to be the first woman and the second immigrant to share this prize in drama and for what this honor communicates about the value of our stories.”
