The David A. Einhorn Prize, named for our co-founder, will be rewarded to playwrights with a history of independent production without the support of an institutional theater. It will particularly emphasize work that fits with the Untitled Theater Company No. 61 aesthetic, inspired by absurdism, with deliberate theatricality, and emphasizing ideas.
Results of the 2021 Awards:
1st Prize: Human Resources, by Matthew Minnicino. Directed by Edward Einhorn. Two mid-level employees in a dystopia discuss their day, politics, poetry, and the quality of the sandwiches from Sandwich Vending Kiosk 6B dash 2 (they're pretty good!).
2nd Prize: 等一下 děng yīxià (wait a little), by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin. Directed by Chongren Fan. Oak and Marbles know how to make things grow, but somehow they keep forgetting. In this surrealist examination of Asian American community building, three generations must figure out how to persevere and survive.
Performed by Craig Anderson, Maggie Cino, Lydia Gaston, Sara Rahman, Yvonne Roen, and Ann Marie Yoo.
Honorable Mentions are Julia Pascal for her play Old Newland and Alexander Hehr for his play Biodegradable Seagulls.
The 1st winner received $1,500, plus another $1500 towards the production of a future play.
The 2nd Prize winner received $500, and the honorable mentions will receive $100 each.
The 1st and 2nd Prize winners also received a play reading on December 11, 2022, which would have been David Einhorn’s 61st birthday.
David A. Einhorn was the Co-Founder of Untitled Theater Company No. 61, and he served as board treasurer throughout the company’s history. His vision helped shape the vision of the company throughout. He was also an intellectual property attorney, whose career spanned over 30 years, after graduating from Columbia Law School. He was also a Lieutenant Colonel JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer for the NY Guard. He was part of the rescue efforts after the 9/11 attacks for which he was awarded the Defense of Liberty Medal.
Matt Minnicino is a queer jewish theatremaker, teacher, and adaptor. residencies/playgroups: Primary Stages, Project Y, Fresh Ground Pepper, Pipeline, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Great Plains Theatre Conference, The Joust, Everyday Inferno, Letter of Marque, Exquisite Corpse, Artilliers, The Flea’s Writers Room, and others. awards: Arts & Letters Prize, Jeffrey Melnick New Playwright Award nominee, Helen Hayes Award nominee, O’Neill semifinalist, INKubator and Bay Area Playwrights Festival finalist. he co-founded the COVID-related theatre initiative Theatre Without Theater and teaches playwriting at Mary Baldwin University. his essays have been published by HowlRound, The Dramatist, and others. MFA: Columbia.
Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin is a writer, performer, educator, and new work advocate. Plays include Call Out Culture (2022 O'Neill NPC Finalist, 2019 Ars Nova’s ANTFest), Harpers Ferry 2019 (2022 Know Theatre of Cincinnati production, 2021 Kendeda Playwriting Award finalist), Tiger Beat (2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2021 Seven Devils Conference finalist), and The Well-Tempered Clavier (2020 BAPF finalist.) Garvin is the 2022 BAPF Play Selection Advisor, the Tank’s 2022 Pridefest curator, and a founding member of Undiscovered Countries, a Brooklyn-based art incubator. Kaela currently teaches playwriting at Cornish College of the Arts.
Anna Trubachova is a journalist and an Executive Editor of anti-censorship platform Samizdat Online. Before moving to New York, she devoted more than 20 years to working for multiple publishers in Belarus, founded her own journalistic agency, and participated in the creation of landmark civic and professional initiatives. In 2016, she was forced to leave Belarus, fearing for her safety and that of her family. After moving to the States she continued to write for selected Belarusian publications and literary magazines, she worked as a producer for the RTVI TV channel and as an editor for the Freedom FM radio station.