ADAA 2014 Saroyan Prize AnnouncesHonorary Jury

The Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA) is proud to announce the renowned honorary jury for the 2014 William Saroyan Playwriting Prize for Human Rights/Social Justice: Sebastian Born, Erik Ehn and David Lan. Sebastian Born is Associate Director at the National Theatre in London. He was the Literary Manager at the Bush Theatre from 1981 to 1985, before becoming a literary agent for 18 years, founding The Agency in 1995. He joined the National Theatre at the beginning of 2007 as Associate Director. Erik Ehn is an American playwright and director known for proposing the Regional Alternative Theatre movement. The former dean of theater at CalArts, the California Institute of Arts, he is Director of Writing for Performance at Brown University.

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ADAA 2014 Saroyan Prize AnnouncesHonorary Jury

(LOS ANGELES) - The Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA) is proud to announce the renowned honorary jury for the 2014 William Saroyan Playwriting Prize for Human Rights/Social Justice: Sebastian Born, Erik Ehn and David Lan.

Sebastian Born is Associate Director at the National Theatre in London. He was the Literary Manager at the Bush Theatre from 1981 to 1985, before becoming a literary agent for 18 years, founding The Agency in 1995. He joined the National Theatre at the beginning of 2007 as Associate Director.

Erik Ehn is an American playwright and director known for proposing the Regional Alternative Theatre movement. The former dean of theater at CalArts, the California Institute of Arts, he is Director of Writing for Performance at Brown University.

David Lan has been the Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre in London since 2000. In 2013 he was appointed Consulting Artistic Director of the soon-to-be-built Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center in New York. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honors List for his services to Theatre.

With the 2014 cycle of the competition, ADAA's $10,000 William Saroyan Prize for Playwriting launched a Human Rights/Social Justice focus, to include plays which engage an audience with social and political issues and/or promotes peace, social justice and human rights, in addition to plays with Armenian themes.  This resulted in a significant increase in submissions to the contest this year from around the world.

In continuing with the work of previous years to support Armenian stories and artists, a special Commendation for Armenian Excellence will be additionally awarded to a play on an Armenian theme.

The esteemed theater professionals who are serving as first-round readers for the Saroyan Prize are: Johnna Adams, Olu Alakija, Michael Arabian, Marcy Arlin, Michael Barakiva, Brook Berman, Kimiko Broder, Barbara Cassidy, Josh Chambers, Gamal Chasten, Paula Cizmar, Christine Evans, Trish Hartineaux, Lisa Kirazian, Lucinda Kidder, Kristen Lazarian, Roberta Levitow, Ed Mast, Ruth Margraff, Emily Mendelsohn, John Moletress, Megan Monahan, Michael Peretzian, Kathy Rucker, Deborah Salzer, Megan Sandberg-Zakian, Adriana Sevahn Nichols, Kelly Stuart, Alice Tuan, Enrique Urueta, Gary Winter, Tim Wright, Torange Yeghiazarian, and Tanya Yerevanian.

On Saturday, December 6, 2014, at 5pm -- in conjunction with Human Rights Day -- the Saroyan Prize will be awarded at a VIP reception at the Pasadena Playhouse. See www.itsmyseat.com for tickets and more information. The grand prize will be awarded by Pier Carlo Talenti, Literary Manager of Center Theater Group (CTG).

The 2014 Saroyan Prize Committee includes the following theater professionals: Erik Ehn, Dean of Playwriting, Brown University, US; David Lan, Young Vic Theatre, UK; Jose Luis Valenzuela, Los Angeles Theater Center, US; Catherine Filloux, Playwright, US; Michael Peretzian, Director, US; Lisa Kirazian, Playwright, US; and Contest Administrator Bianca Bagatourian, Playwright, US.

Advisory Theaters for the 2014 Saroyan Prize are: The Pasadena Playhouse, US; The Young Vic, UK; The Bush Theatre, UK; The Los Angeles Theater Center, US; Golden Thread Theater, US; The Fountain Theatre, US and more.

The late William Saroyan believed that the performing arts were a powerful tool for facilitating civic engagement and advancing social change. ADAA, with the advice of its theater and funding partners around the world, decided to expand the scope of the competition to promote intercultural understanding and be inclusive of more playwrights exploring the transformative power of theater to address issues of global significance.  This is certainly in keeping with the spirit of William Saroyan - a longtime advocate of human rights. It will also further the aim of the Armenian arts community as a whole, in its quest for justice and acceptance.

The Saroyan Playwriting Prize is supported with grants from the William Saroyan Foundation (Haig Mardikian, President), which inaugurated the prize at ADAA in 2007.  Additional support for the Prize comes from Gagosian Galleries and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

For more information, please visit ADAA's newly redesigned website, http://www.armeniandrama.org or email adaa@armeniandrama.org. Event information is available on itsmyseat.com.