Water by the Spoonful wins the 2012 Pulitzer for Drama- Page 2

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/17/12 at 1:06pm

PJ--yes, in 1935.

The award doesn't make these plays "the best" or even "better than" bushels full of other work. That's the mistake most people make about any award - assuming that a random award automatically makes a work superlative.

I don't think anyone is automatically assuming that WATER BY THE SPOONFUL is suddenly the best new play out there. But receiving any high profile award does raise the visibility of a work, opens it up to an entirely new group of people who possibly might not have encountered it, and creates an interest. These are not bad things. It's totally fair to assume that the play will likely receive a New York production, be published, etc.

And the Pulitzer is a name that carries weight, whether you agree or not. That doesn't automatically make them infallible, but it's true.

Updated On: 4/17/12 at 01:06 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 4/17/12 at 1:25pm

Sure, but the point is this: the Pulitzer name only carries weight to people who believe it carries weight. It doesn't carry weight because of inherent value.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/17/12 at 1:47pm

Well, that's true of any award, review, or any other form of acknowledgment or recognition.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/17/12 at 1:49pm

And a lot of people think the Pulitzer carries weight, so...

[newintown]

Posted: 4/17/12 at 1:55pm

I'd be interested in hearing the end of that sentence.