Press Release

Date: January 19, 2004

FRANCESCA PRIMUS PRIZE FINDS NEW HOME WITH THE AMERICAN THEATRE CRITICS ASSOCIATION

$10,000 prize to be administered by nationwide organization

The Francesca Ronnie Primus Foundation and the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) are pleased to announce that the Francesca Primus Prize, on hiatus since 2002, resumes in 2004 under the auspices of the American Theatre Critics Association.

When the Prize lost its home at The Denver Center Theatre Company due to cutbacks in the company's new play program, the Primus Foundation saw it as an opportunity to redefine the award. As the administrator of his sister's Foundation, actor/director/producer Barry Primus wanted to expand the prize to include women in all pioneering categories of theatre, focusing primarily on emerging playwrights, but encompassing other areas as well.

By going through the American Theatre Critics Association (of which Francesca was a member and which has a new play committee already in place) the foundation is able to increase the award from $5,000 to $10,000.

"My sister Francesca, loved all aspects of the theatre, but nothing thrilled her more than coming across new work," said Barry Primus. "She understood how important good theatre can be in letting people know that they are not alone in their concerns and feelings about their destinies. I am very grateful that you are continuing this loving event in her honor."

Theatre writer, critic, and dramaturg Francesca Primus died of lung cancer in New York City in 1992 at the age of forty-five. She wrote eloquently on the role of women in theatre and was a strong supporter of the regional theatre movement on which she often focused in her monthly column, "Cross-Country Stages," for Back Stage. Francesca was was a reader for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and served as dramaturg for the Texas Playwrights Festival at Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston, and for the Festival of Southern Theatre at the University of Mississippi, where the Primus Prize originated. Aside from ATCA, she was also a member of Drama Desk.

"Our Association, with its 275 members coast to coast, is a perfect match for the Primus Prize and its tradition of honoring up-and-coming women in the theatre," said ATCA Chair Michael Barnes. "We hope to make it one of the most distinguished and well-known awards in American theatre."

The Francesca Primus Prize joins the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg Award and the M. Elizabeth Osborn Award that also are given out annually by the Association, usually in March. Primus winners will be announced each year at the Association's annual conference, beginning this June in San Francisco.

Previous winners of the Francesca Primus Prize are:

2002: Alexandra Cunningham, Pavane

2000: Brooke Berman, Playing House

2001: S. M. Shepard-Massat, Some Place Soft to Fall

1999: Melanie Marnich, Blur

1998: Brooke Berman, Wonderland

1997: Julia Jordan, Tatjana in Color