LA
playwright Jamie Pachino was awarded the Primus Prize for her play,
SPLITTING INFINTY. The Primus Prize is awarded by the Francesca Ronnie
Primus Foundation and the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
to an emerging woman theater artist, either a playwright, artistic
director or director. The award recipient receives $10,000 2009 and a
trip to the ATCA conference at the O'Neill Theater Center in
Connecticut.
SPLITTING
INFINITY is a smart and witty exploration of faith, science, love, and
ambition surrounding Leigh Sangold, a Nobel prize-winning
astrophysicist, who takes on the definitive scientific challenge: to
use physics to prove whether God exists. Leigh's quest for a renewed
sense of self in her life threatens her closest relationships with Saul
Lieberman, a tenderhearted Rabbi who's been in love with her since
childhood, and her lover, a competitive post-doctoral student who is
the son of a Christian Scientist. Splitting Infinity tests the
boundaries of relationships and zealous ambition. It seeks to answer
the questions we have about ourselves, each other, and the universe
through the scientific and religious equation.
Upon
winning the award, Pachino said, "The Primus Prize is one that is
extremely respected by women playwrights and I am so honored and
delighted to be recognized."
Jaime
Pachino is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter with national
and international credits. Her play, Splitting Infinity, was named the
winner of the Laurie Foundation Theatre Visionary Award, and the STAGE
competition for plays about science. Other plays include Waving Goodbye
(world premiere Steppenwolf Theatre,
winner of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, and
Chicago's Jeff Award for Best New Work); The Return to Morality (winner
of eight national awards, produced throughout the U.S.); Aurora's
Motives, Race and Theodora: An Unauthorized Biography.
The
Primus Prize has historically been awarded to an outstanding female
playwright recognizing a single script. While the award committee
retains an interest in honoring achievement in the writing of plays, it
will also actively consider female artists whose work is outstanding in
other theatrical disciplines, including artistic direction, stage
direction, acting, design, production and dramaturgy. The award
generally will seek to honor women of significant achievement who have
not yet attained national prominence.
For
more than 30 years, the American Theatre Critics Association, Inc. has
provided opportunities for members to explore the vast artistic
resources of our National Theatre
and of theatre around the globe. We work to foster greater
communication among theatre critics in the United States and abroad,
advocate absolute freedom of expression in theatre and theatre
criticism, strive to increase public awareness of the theatre as an
important national resource and reaffirm the individual critic's right
to disagree with the opinions of colleagues.
The
American Theatre Critics Association is the only national association
of professional theatre critics. Our several hundred members work for
newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and on-line services across
the United States.
