Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to Receive Sundance Institute s First Ever Tenneee Williams Award

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to Receive Sundance Institute's First Ever Tennessee Williams Award Posted Feb 27, 2013

SALLY FIELD

TO PRESENT AWARD

AT SUNDANCE INSTITUTE THEATRE PROGRAM BENEFIT

APRIL 8, 2013

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING FOR THEATRE PROGRAM BENEFIT:

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, JUDY KUHN AND DAVID HYDE PIERCE TO PERFORM SELECTIONS FROM NEW MUSICAL FUN HOME BY LISA KRON AND JEANINE TESORI

CHERRY JONES TO PERFORM SCENES FROM NEW PLAY BY AWARD RECIPIENT JACOBS-JENKINS APPROPRIATE

New York, NY (2/27/2013) Sundance Institute has announced that playwright and Sundance Institute Theatre Lab alum Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will receive the first-ever Tennessee Williams Award from the Institute's Theatre Program, which supports the development of new work for the stage. Sundance Institute Emeritus Trustee Sally Field will present the honor and accompanying $10,000 grant at the Celebrate Sundance Institute benefit for its Theatre Program on April 8, 2013 at Stephan Weiss Studio in Greenwich Village.

The event will also include musical selections from the Sundance Institute-supported, much-anticipated new musical Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, featuring performances by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Judy Kuhn, David Hyde Pierce and others. Fun Home was supported at two Institute Labs and will open at the Public Theatre later this year. Also at the benefit, Cherry Jones and others will perform scenes from Appropriate by Williams Award winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, The Sundance Institute Theatre Program has discovered and supported many of the leading theatre artists and projects of the past three decades. We are pleased that our Tennessee Williams Award will further shine a spotlight on emerging playwrights from whom we can expect powerful and innovative work.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright and dramaturg. His newest play, Appropriate, premieres at the Humana Festival in March 2013. His other work has been seen at The Public Theatre, PS122, Soho Rep, The Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, CompanyOne in Boston, Theater Bielefeld in Bielefeld, Germany and the National Theatre in London. He is Usual Suspect and a former New York Theatre Workshop Playwriting fellow, an alum of the Soho Rep Writers/Directors Lab, Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, and Ars Nova Playgroup. His honors include a Princess Grace Award, the Dorothy Strelsin Playwriting Fellowship, the Paula Vogel Award, and a fellowship in playwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts. He holds an M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU and is working on commissions from Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 and Yale Repertory Theater.

Branden is an alum of the 2012 Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation and the 2012 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at the Sundance Resort.

Brandens burgeoning body of work already heralds a dynamic career; his audacity and poetic language are reminiscent of many of the qualities that define Mr. Williams' writing, remarked Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program. Following his wildly entertaining and dangerous Neighbors, his most recent play, Appropriate, reveals him to be an author willing to take substantial risk, and to fearlessly explore familial rage and personal emancipation. We look forward to his future output which will undoubtedly continue to reflect a singular sensibility, with humor and passion.

Visit the events site at http://www.sundance.org/celebrateNY. For information on benefit event tickets and tables or sponsorship opportunities, contact celebrate@sundance.org. Individual tickets are $500.

The Theatre Program has been a core component of Sundance Institute since Robert Redford founded the Institute in 1984. The Theatre Program identifies and assists emerging theatre artists, contributes to the creative growth of established artists, and encourages and supports the development of new work for the stage. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Associate Director Christopher Hibma, the Theatre Program is the leading play development program in the United States. Titles such as Spring Awakening, An Iliad, I Am My Own Wife, The Good Negro, Circle Mirror Transformation, Passing Strange, Grey Gardens, Crowns and Marie Antoinette have gone from Theatre Program Labs to production from coast to coast and internationally, garnering multiple Pulitzers, Tonys, Obies and other recognition. The Theatre Program hosts a range of creative Labs throughout the year and around the world, including the Theatre Lab at the Sundance Resort and Playwrights Retreat at Ucross. The Theatre Program's East Africa initiative is the only professional program of its type on the continent, offering Labs, cross-cultural exchange, mentorship and exposure to artists in six African countries. Past activities have also included a Theatre Lab at White Oak, a Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA and a Theatre Lab on Governors Island in New York.

Sundance Institute relies on the generosity of donors who share a commitment to nurturing new artists, supporting unique and diverse creative voices, and furthering the reach of independent feature and documentary films around the world. The benefit will raise crucial funds to offset the non-profit Institute's year-round programs for artists, including Labs, grants and the Sundance Film Festival.

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program is made possible by generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Time Warner Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Cindy Harrell Horn and Alan Horn, and the LUMA Foundation.

Sundance Institute

Founded by Robert Redfor

LINK:	http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/playwright-branden-jacobs...
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