David Lindsay-Abaire & Naomi Wallace Win 2012 Horton Foote Prize

Playwrights David Lindsay-Abaire and Naomi Wallace have received the 2012 Horton Foote Prize. The award for Outstanding New American Play was granted to Lindsay-Abaire for his play Good People, while the award for Promising New American Play was presented to Wallace for The Liquid Plain.

Good People premiered at Broadway's  Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on March 3, 2011, and played a limited engagement through May 29. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, the Manhattan Theatre Company production starred Frances McDormand, Tate Donovan, Estelle Parsons, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Becky Ann Baker and Patrick Carroll. Set in a rough neighborhood of South Boston, Good People is the story of Margie, who is trying to make ends meet. Margie gets in touch with her old high school boyfriend, who has made a better life for himself. As the two catch up, memories and secrets—some funny, some touching and some shattering—are revealed.

Set in Providence, Rhode Island, in the 18th century, The Liquid Plain is the story of two runaway slaves, a sailor and their mysterious identities. The play will premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in July 2013.

Named after the late legendary playwright and screenwriter, the Foote Prize is open to playwrights who have written at least four full-length and original plays that have been produced by professional theaters. Foote, who died in 2009 at age 92, is the author of many classic plays, including Dividing the Estate, The Day Emily Married, Talking Pictures, The Prisoner’s Song and The Young Man From Atlanta, for which he received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.