Theatrical honors for Payne, GET, Garner
Local theater people win cash and fabulous prizes.
- DeWayne Morgan
- Topher Payne as Joan Crawford
Various organizations have been showing love to local theater people:
1. Essential Theatre announced that the winner of the 2012 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award competition is Evelyn in Purgatory by Atlanta writer Topher Payne. A comic drama about public school teachers trapped in the limbo of the “Rubber Room,” where they wait for their hearings on disciplinary action, Payne’s play will be given a $600 cash prize and will be produced as part of the 2012 Essential Theatre Play Festival during the summer of that year.
2. Georgia Ensemble Theatre (GET) has received major support from The Thoresen Foundation in the form of a $260,000 grant award. GET Board President Carla Crowell remarked, “This grant gives new life to Georgia Ensemble Theatre. It provides the stability we need to enter our third decade of fulfilling the Theatre’s mission of captivating the current generation of theatre-goers while at the same time, nurturing future generations.”
3. Georgia Shakespeare artistic director Richard Garner was chosen as one of five finalists for the The Zelda Fichandler Award recognizing an outstanding director or choreographer transforming the regional arts landscape. The $5000 award, presented by Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation heralds both accomplishment to date and promise for the future, and commends courage and deep commitment to a community. Blanka Zizka of The Wilma Theater is the recipient 2011 of the Award. Also announced is one Distinguished Finalist, and three additional finalists, including Garner.