2021 Pulitzer Price for Drama delayed until June

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 4/1/21 at 11:24am

The Pulitzer Prize Board has postponed its announcement of the 2021 winners in drama, journalism, books and music. 

The announcement will now be made on June 11, 2021 at 1 p.m., about two months after the originally scheduled date of April 19. This year, the board will consider postponed or cancelled productions as well as shows that streamed online.

https://broadwaynews.com/2021/04/01/pulitzer-prize-board-postpones-announcement-of-2021-drama-prize-winner/

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/1/21 at 1:37pm

Are they even going to bother with a prize for Drama this year? There have been years where they didn't give out an award (most recently 2006), so that might be the route they go this year.

I understand the Pulitzer committee just considers the written text of the show, rather than the physical production, but I don't even know what shows would be in the running this year.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 4/2/21 at 12:20pm

Bestowing no award is always an option and has been done multiple times (most recently in 2006). I expect there will be a winner, though, or at least a slate of finalists. Award consideration runs January to December, so there are multiple eligible plays that premiered on stage during the first two-and-a-half months of 2020 alone. And the article says they're including online originals and canceled productions.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/2/21 at 12:56pm

I would guess that most people on this message board aren't in a good position to judge the state of the competition. Lots of eligible works, I imagine, weren't even available for public viewing. As for online originals - I personally have not been keeping up with them at all. There was such a massive deluge of digital plays, and personally I didn't care for watching digital theatre anyway. 

I would be curious to hear from people on this board: does anyone feel like they followed the digital theatre scene closely enough to gage which plays, if any, might be in contention for a Pulitzer? I'm genuinely asking. As I said, I don't feel confident weighing on on that. But there was so much digital theatre happening, I have a hard time believing that the competition for the Pulitzer is thin enough to warrant a "no award" year. 

I think one of the biggest mysteries right now is: 

Will the Pulitzer committee be inclined to reward a digital theatre piece, as a means of recognizing the artistic innovation and resilience that has taken place during the pandemic? OR will they want to reward a live theatre piece as a means of honoring the live theatre that DID take place in 2020 / the ones that were cut short or cancelled? 

 

Having said all of that, I'd just like to throw out there that Celine Song's "Endlings" is a PERFECT candidate, and I would be overjoyed to see it win. Early reports were mixed, but I loved it. And it ticks all the boxes for what the Pulitzer is supposed to prioritize. On top of that, it tackles the topic of racism in the the NYC theatre community, which is obviously an extremely potent subject right now. And it does so specifically through the lens of an Asian playwright - adding yet another layer to its hot-button relevance at this moment, where discussion around anti-Asian racism is surging. 

Updated On: 4/2/21 at 12:56 PM

[LarryD2]

Posted: 4/2/21 at 2:33pm

It's worth remembering that potential contenders for the prize are submitted, and it's a highly curated process. I'm sure both works that had a major production on stage in the early months of 2020, or a high-profile digital production, will be among the works under consideration. Here are some of the possible candidates I can think of from both categories:

Plays that had a stage premiere in New York between January-March 2020: Paris, How to Load a Musket, The Headlands, Dana H., All the Natalie Portmans, 72 Miles to Go, Endlings, Coal Country, Suicide Forest, The Hot Wing King

Original Digital Works: Any of the Richard Nelson Apple Zoom plays, Circle Jerk, Russian Troll Farm, Animals, Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club, What Is Left Burns, Wally's World, The Line, Mama Got a Cough, In Love and Warcraft, Last Gasp, Outtakes

I'm not up on regional theater premieres that happened pre-pandemic to speak with confidence about what potential contenders might come from there, and the degree to which postponed/canceled world premieres will be eligible is a lingering question mark. But all told, I don't think it will be hard for the committee to come up with finalists.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/2/21 at 2:45pm

Thanks for drawing up that list! 

Worth noting, however, that "In Love and Warcraft" is not new. It's been kicking around for about 6-7 years. I saw a small production of it in London about 4 years ago. 

Dana H is probably eligible, but might not be taken seriously as a contender, considering it doesn't really have an original script, per se. It's all recordings of his mother telling a story from her life. 

 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/2/21 at 5:58pm

I could see Dana H. being in the running.

This may be a stupid question, and you can all feel free to call me out on it, but would the Ratatouille TikTok musical be considered a digital production? It may not have the esteem of Dana H. or the Apple Family Zoom Plays, but if there's one show that exemplifies how theatre was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was that: A bunch of teenagers writing joke songs in quarantine, and getting Tony and Grammy-nominees to sing them in a theatre piece approved by Disney, that raised almost 2 million dollars for out-of-work-actors.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 4/3/21 at 12:14am

If Ratatouille TikTok gets a Pulitzer then you might as well never award the prize again....

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 4/4/21 at 8:00pm

Would love to see Celine Song get the prize, but unfortunately Endlings was terrible and easily her worst play to date.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/5/21 at 9:48am

Synecdoche2 said: "unfortunately Endlings was terrible and easily her worst play to date."