June 29, 2012

Dramatic Writing Alum Tammy Ryan ('90) Wins Francesca Primus Prize

Filed under Alumni

On June 14th, The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) announced that playwright Tammy Ryan (MFA '90) won the Francesca Primus Prize for her play LOST BOY FOUND IN WHOLE FOODS.   She receives $10,000 and will be celebrated at an upcoming ATCA conference.  She is a proud alum of the Dramatic Writing program at the School of Drama.

Currently, a resident of Pittsburgh where she is also the Regional Representative for the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc., Tammy has seen her play produced at the Playhouse Rep in Pittsburgh, as well as previously produced at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey.  The play was also developed at the New Harmony Project and the Lark Play Development Center and won the Premiere Stages Play Festival.

LOST BOY FOUND IN WHOLE FOODS is a powerful play which integrates a personal story with a current world issue.  A single mother meets one of the "lost boys" of Sudan in the produce section of Whole Foods in Pittsburgh and the two form a relationship that changes both their lives.

"The most gratifying aspect of the experience," Ryan says, "was that the play was able to have a conversation with the community in which it was born".

 

To read more about Tammy's award, please see the press release here.