PITTSFIELD, MASS.: Barrington Stage Company has announced Stacey Rose’s America v. 2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of the American Negro as the winner of the first Bonnie and Terry Burman New Play Award. Rose will receive $25,000 and her play, selected from among almost 500 submissions, will be produced as a world premiere at Barrington Stage.
“I want to thank Bonnie and Terry Burman for recognizing the importance of discovering and supporting vital new voices in the American Theatre,” Barrington Stage Company artistic director Julianne Boyd said in a statement. She called Rose’s play “a provocative, uncompromising look at Black Americans in post-apocalyptic America.”
America v. 2.1, set in the near future, follows a troupe of Black actors who reenact a revised history of the “once-thriving American Negro.” Over the course of a day, the actors discover parallels between their own lives and those of the individuals they portray.
“There are few words for how honored I am to be the inaugural recipient of the Bonnie and Terry Burman New Play Award,” said Stacey Rose in a statement. “Having the play produced as well meets and exceeds my wildest dreams for the world premiere of this play.”
The second place winners, Brent Askari and Christina Quintana, will each receive $5,000 and a developmental staged reading of their respective plays, American Underground and Citizen Scientist.
Among the finalists for the Burman Award are Steal Her Bones by Thomas Gibbons, EIGHT NIGHTS by Jennifer Maisel, 2144 SOUTH ST. by Karina Billini, and (end of message) by Laura Jacqmin.
