2024 Pulitzer Prize Predictions

[MarilynMonroeSmash]

Posted: 5/5/24 at 9:43pm

Pulitzers are announced tomorrow, May 6! What are people’s predictions?

[JoeW4]

Posted: 5/5/24 at 10:28pm

I haven't plugged anything on here in a while, but I posted my Pulitzer thoughts/predictions on TikTok last month

In hearing other people's hopes/predictions since then, I do wonder if Flex has a better shot than I gave it credit for (I have it on my "honorable mentions" list). If so, I wouldn't be mad! I liked Flex a lot.

I also heard several people throw out Wet Brain as a potential winner after I posted this, which I was surprised by. I had mixed feelings about the play, so maybe that's just my taste influencing my predictions, but I'm not convinced. We'll see!

I'm also continuously warring with myself about whether Stereophonic is too high up on my predictions list or not. As I said in the video, I think it's an intuitive pick in some ways, and counterintuitive in other ways - and I go back and forth basically by the day lol. Again, we'll see!

Otherwise though, I pretty much stand by everything I said!

Updated On: 5/5/24 at 10:28 PM

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 5/5/24 at 10:51pm

the comeuppance

wet brain

 stereophonic 

manahatta 

Updated On: 5/6/24 at 10:51 PM

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 5/5/24 at 11:04pm

infinite life

school pictures

the comeuppance

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/5/24 at 11:30pm

Stereophonic

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 1:37am

Winner - Primary Trust

Finalists

-Public Obscenities

-Here There Are Blueberries 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 11:36am

Since part of the criteria for the Pultizer is depicting American life, plays with a strong message about the current state of our culture can have a leg up here. Something to keep in mind.

I think The Comeuppance is the likeliest choice. But these folks surprise us every year. 

Other options: (pray), Wet Brain, Stereophonic, The Ally, Flex, Manahatta, Primary Trust

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 11:45am

Omg I’m just realizing the ending of Mary Jane and The Ally are the same 

[The8re phan]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 11:46am

Oh, Mary!

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 11:51am

I believe the eligibility deadline is the calendar year, so The Ally would be eligible next year

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 12:27pm

Eligibility is for the 2023 calendar year and USUALLY limited to shows that had their world premiere in 2023 but sometimes there's some fungibility there.

I don't know who this year's jury is, but last year's was:

David John Chávez (Chair)
Chair, American Theatre Critics Association; Correspondent, San Jose Mercury News

Vinson Cunningham
Staff Writer, The New Yorker

Soraya Nadia McDonald
Senior Culture Critic, Andscape

Heidi Schreck
Playwright

Kristina Wong
Performance Artist/Playwright

so it's only the opinion of five people (typically 3 critics and 2 working artists)

Updated On: 5/6/24 at 12:27 PM

[JoeW4]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 1:09pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Eligibility is for the 2023 calendar year and USUALLY limited to shows that had their world premiere in 2023 but sometimes there's some fungibility there."

 

Yes and no. There's a certain degree of fungibility backward in time, but not forward. Plays that had their world premiere in 2024 (like The Ally) are categorically ineligible for today's prize.

The grey area comes in when you're looking at plays that have had PAST productions. And even that is based on a clearly defined rule, it's just that there isn't much transparency to the public. The rule is that the playwright can only ever submit the play for consideration 1 time, but they're not required to submit it following the world premiere. They can choose to wait and submit it in a later year instead -- the only caveat being that there has to be *a* production of the play (In the US, I think?) in the year that they chose to submit it. So if something premiered out of town in 2022 but had it's NY premier in 2023, they might wait to submit it for the NYC production in the hopes of either (a) getting more attention/buzz and/or (b) getting more time to improve the piece.

The problem is, the list of submissions isn't made public, so we don't know which ones might have submit previously and which ones submit this year.

EDIT: Also worth noting that the jury of 5 only chooses the finalists, while the Pulitzer BOARD (of about 18 people) chooses the winner from those selections. So the winner is effectively decided by 23 people.

Updated On: 5/6/24 at 01:09 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 1:17pm

Yeah, there has to be wiggle room for world premieres, as it's often the case that a piece's world premiere is still a work-in-progress. Manahatta, for instance, actually premiered in 2014 at a Public Lab and has had several productions in the intervening years, including at Yale Rep in 2020, which were all aimed at further developing the piece before it came back to the Public for a full run this season.

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 1:56pm

The way that it works is simple, but obscured to the public. A play is eligible if it had a production in the calendar year, AND it has to be manually submitted to the committee for consideration, usually by the producing entity of the play.

For example, The Minutes was able to be selected in 2018 because Steppenwolf submitted the literature for the play with their production in 2017. Something like Manahatta most likely was not submitted until the 2023 calendar year because the text was not finished and the author did not wish for the text to be submitted until it had its full New York premiere. But it's impossible to say for sure because those submissions are not made public.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 2:12pm

I don’t think downstate was ever up for a Pulitzer.  That play never got to Broadway either.  While less good plays get it. What a pity. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 2:15pm

The rules must have changed in recent years, because previously a work did not have to be submitted in order to be eligible. Major works (a vague term for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows) were automatically considered, but submitting merely guaranteed consideration and was helpful for less-high-profile works.

https://www.pulitzer.org/page/drama-submission-guidelines-and-requirements

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 3:29pm

WINNER ANNOUNCED: Primary Trust

FINALISTS:

Here There Are Blueberries

Public Obscenities

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 3:30pm

Winner: Primary Trust

Finalists: Public Obscenities and Here There Are Blueberries

Just announced on the livestream

[kdogg36]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 3:30pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Winner - Primary Trust

Finalists
-Public Obscenities
-Here There Are Blueberries"

Wow! Nicely done!

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 3:31pm

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 3:36pm

Hahha we all wanted to be the first ones to post it.

[binau]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 3:38pm

It looks like they were going to stage A Primary Trust at the Donmar this summer but cancelled it?

https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/uk-premiere-of-skeleton-crew-replaces-primary-trust-in-donmar-warehouse-season_1580645/

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 3:56pm

Wonder if there's still time for Roundabout to get this on its 2024/2025 season.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 4:05pm

That play was such a sappy pile of mush.  Summer 1976 should have won 

[steve.sometime]

Posted: 5/6/24 at 4:08pm

Given the recent trend of getting all Pulitzer winners to Broadway, do you think this will transfer? For those who have seen it, will it work on a larger stage?