Release date: 19-Jul-05
Contact: Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Theater Emory Supports Local Artists with Grants and Awards, Inaugurates the Pat Miller Playmaker Award

Theater Emory and Emory University's theater studies department have developed a reputation for dedication to developing new work for the stage for more than 20 years. It is therefore fitting that Theater Emory, the professional company affiliated with the theater studies program, has established a grant program to recognize its long-time managing director, Pat Miller, who retired from that role this past academic year.

Conceived by Artistic Producing Director Vincent Murphy, the Pat Miller Playmaker Award, a grant for $2,000, will be awarded annually to an inspiring and innovative playwright, dramaturg, director or administrator who has worked in playwriting labs and helped create great new work.

"The award is but a small tribute to the 20 years of outstanding leadership and service that Pat has given as managing director of Theater Emory and faculty member in the Department of Theater Studies," says Murphy. "We are all aware of the enormous amount of talent and inspiration that Pat has brought these two organizations and wish to celebrate her career as the managing director. She has bravely inspired and taught in a program for students, professionals and theater lovers that is unparalleled in the community."

The Pat Miller Playmaker Award is funded through donations from theater studies alumni, Theater Emory and Friends of Theater Emory. The first recipients are Michael Dixon, literary manager of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and Atlanta-based company Out of Hand Theater Inc.

Miller's long career in professional theater earned her a national reputation, particularly as a champion of new work.

"Any professional association with Pat Miller is an honor, and I find it both fitting and moving that Emory has chosen to create an award that celebrates her incredible passion for new American plays," says Dixon. "At Chocolate Bayou Theatre in Houston and at Theater Emory, Pat has been a tireless champion of new work and has consequently made a significant contribution to the careers of many playwrights. More than that, Pat has worked incredibly hard to bring artistic dreams to life on stage, and in so doing has improved the lives of everyone in the theater--on both sides of the footlights--for we all benefit from working on and watching productions that reflect our lives and broaden our understanding of what it means to be human in these times. Two generations of writers and theater artists have come of age under Pat's nurturing watch, and I count myself fortunate to be among them."

In addition to the new Pat Miller Playmaker Award, Theater Emory has been instrumental or responsible for a number of other financial awards that are so important to sustaining theater professionals.

Murphy is a trustee of the Tanne Foundation, a Boston-based nonprofit organization established in 1998 to support the work of individual artists and artist-run arts organizations with awards of $10,000. This year's recipients are actor Jim Peck, who performed in Theater Emory's "American Wake" and "Married Like," and Janet Kenney, who was in residence at the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory to develop "Mark of the Lord" in 2003. Theater Emory commissioned Kenney to write "Globus Hystericus," which was developed jointly with Out of Hand Theater this past spring as a bare bones production. Past local recipients include Carolyn Cook, Synchronicity Performance Group, Maia Knispel of Out of Hand, Jan Akers, Tim McDonough and PushPush Theater.

In addition, Friends of Theater Emory has been presenting $1,000 awards annually for several years to local artists and Emory students in recognition for their outstanding work with the company. This year's recipients were Megan Monahan for her substantial work as a dramaturg and director, and recent Emory graduate Christina Wallace for her work as an actor, director and music director.

In other Theater Emory-related news, playwright and director Larry Larson has been chosen for the Spencer Cherashore Award and grant to continue work this summer on "Charm School," his play commissioned by Theater Emory and given an open reading this past season.

As part of a longer range initiative to foster new theater works and help successful local playwrights make the next step to regional and national success, Murphy originated the Sister City Playwrights exchange among theaters in Atlanta, Boston, New York, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco. Theater Emory dedicated this past season completely to new works in development, foregoing full productions for staged readings and bare bones productions. Theater Emory will continue to guide and fund the program for another year as part of its biennial festival of Brave New Works.

"The idea behind Sister City Playwrights is to help catapult regional artists to the national level," says Murphy. "All of these cities have talented writers who do tremendously well in their region, but have trouble moving up to the next level. The goal is to have a national network to help these artists make that leap." The network will work to coordinate residencies, co-commission new work, and help foster support among funders, critics and the public for the process of creating new theater work.

Part of the Sister City program provides seed money to theater companies to develop new plays and to work with playwrights from partner cities. Grants this past year have included the Lark Theatre in New York, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, the Playwrights Foundation in San Francisco, and from Atlanta, Synchronicity Performance Group, Out of Hand Theater and PushPush Theater.

Theater Emory is the producing organization of Emory University and is affiliated with the Department of Theater Studies. It is a member of the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts and operates under a seasonal agreement with Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For nearly two decades Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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