TUCSON, ARIZ.: Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) has named Benjamin Benne the winner of the 2019 National Latinx Playwriting Award (NLPA) for his play Alma. Benne will receive $1,000, and his play will be workshopped at ATC.

The NLPA is a nationally-recognized award that reflects ATC’s support of Latinx writers.

“Our NLPA judges fell in love with the poetically distilled language of Alma,” said ATC playwright in residence, Elaine Romero, in a statement. 

Benne is a M.F.A Playwriting candidate at Yale School of Drama and was a NLPA finalist in 2017. His work has been developed with the Lark’s Playwrights’ Week, the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center, and Playwrights Realm’s Scratchpad series, among others. He won the 2019 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Latinx Playwriting Award. 

“It is truly our honor to support Benjamin, who I have no doubt will be a force in the American theatre in no time,” said ATC artistic director, Sean Daniels, in a statement. “I’m sure this won’t be the last time our audience,  or audiences everywhere, will hear that Benjamin Benne is being produced in their hometown.”