ARCHIVES

Print Friendly

Playwrights rarely get to bask in the bright lights, but Isaac Holter, a recent graduate of our remarkable Theatre School, deserves to take a deep bow.

Isaac recently won the prestigious Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting awarded by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. His play, "Good Worker," chosen for DePaul's New Playwrights Series, was judged the best student-written play that celebrates diversity and encourages tolerance while exploring issues of disempowered voices.

"Good Worker" was performed this month at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a national program involving 18,000 college students and more than 600 academic institutions.  In January and February each year, eight regional festivals showcased the best work of college theater. A three-person panel selected by the Kennedy Center and the festival's national committee served as judges. Only a handful of productions from each region qualified for performance at the Kennedy Center, including "Good Worker."

Isaac will be awarded a $2,500 first-place prize and a fellowship to attend a new play development laboratory. His play, which was performed last May at Athenaeum Studio Three in Lincoln Park, was directed by Carlos Murillo, assistant professor in The Theatre School.

Carlos deserves an extra round of applause not only for his superb direction of "Good Worker," but for being one of only seven playwrights in the country whose work was accepted by the Humana Festival of New American Plays. More than 3,000 scripts were submitted.

His play: "dark play or stories for boys" was performed last month in the Bingham Theatre in Louisville during the festival. The play was nominated for five Los Angeles Drama Critics Awards, including Carlos for best writing. Although Carlos did not win, Michael Michetti won best director for guiding the performance of Carlos' play at The Theatre @ Boston Court in Pasadena, Calif., where Michetti is co-artistic director.

Our Theatre School is rich with success stories like those of Isaac Holter and Carlos Murillo that underscore its well-deserved reputation as one of America's finest theater programs. I congratulate Dean John Culbert and his faculty and staff for continuing to inspire their students and for enhancing the intellectual and cultural life of the university community, the city of Chicago and the world of theater.