THE DRAMATISTS GUILD ATLANTA REGION ANNOUNCESNAZARETH HASSAN HAGOODAS RECIPIENT OF THE 2017 YOUNG PLAYWRIGHT AWARD
In 2014, Atlanta Regional Rep Pamela Turner established the Dramatists Guild Young Playwright Award in partnership with Horizon Theatre Company as a means to identify very early stage writers of talent and to acknowledge college upperclassmen from around the nation who are already demonstrating a commitment to craft and the ability to present a unique view of the concerns of their generation. During Horizon’s annual New South Young Playwrights Festival DG staff meet and hear the work of potential candidates in order to make a selection.
The 2017 recipient of the Dramatists Guild Young Playwright Award is Nazareth Hassan Hagood, a rising senior at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in New York City. His festival piece A Revolution Dies in Four Different Ways was directed by Horizon Theatre Company’s co-Artistic Director Jeff Adler. Along with receiving a year’s membership in the Dramatists Guild, Hagood will be the subject of an article in The Dramatist magazine appearing in fall 2018.
Semi-finalists for the 2017 award included Emmet Temple (UNC School of the Arts); Josiah Edwards (Kennesaw State University); Joseph Michael Bahena (University of Transylvania); and Christina M. Torres (University of South Florida).
The Dramatists Guild of America was founded in 1912 as a membership organization devoted to protecting and promoting the interests of the men and women who write for the stage. Currently over 7000 playwrights, librettists, lyricists, and composers are part of the DG community, including such luminaries as Doug Wright, Kia Corthron, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Lisa Kron.