Amy Herzog

Amy Herzog is an American playwright.[1][2] Her play 4000 Miles, which ran Off-Broadway in 2011, was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[3] Herzog's plays have been produced Off-Broadway, and have received nominations for, among others: the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actor and Actress (After the Revolution); the Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (The Great God Pan); and Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play (Belleville). She was a finalist for the 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Personal life

Herzog's grandfather is songwriter Arthur Herzog Jr..[1] She is married to stage director Sam Gold; they have two children.[4]

Career

Herzog received a Masters in Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama. Her teachers included Richard Nelson and John Guare. Jim Nicola, producer of Belleville at the New York Theatre Workshop, said that "the distinction of Herzog’s work is her belief 'that private, individual experience is always inseparable from public, historical processes, when she explores human lives.'"[5]

Her new play, Mary Jane, will premiere at Yale Rep, New Haven, Connecticut, from April 28 to May 20, 2017.[6]

Style and themes

Tim Sanford, artistic director of Playwrights Horizons noted that she is willing "to take on 'ideas and history, which not everyone believes in anymore.' He also praises the sophistication of her structures and characters. 'You can see the affinity for Richard Nelson, who was her teacher,' Sanford points out, referring to the veteran playwright and teacher at Yale School of Drama."[5]

Richard Nelson said: “She has great, great facility for dialogue... It’s clean, it’s simple, it’s evocative, it’s witty. It’s alive and easily spoken. Very, very actable. That’s a given talent.” John Guare noted “Amy came fully formed" Guare also mentioned her “warm-hearted, cold-eyed sympathy for her characters.”[5]

Herzog based several characters in her plays on family members. The character of "Vera Joseph" in 4000 Miles is based on Herzog's grandmother, Leepee. Vera initially appeared in her play After the Revolution. Leo in 4000 Miles is based on her cousin who lost a good friend. The "Josephs" in her plays are also partially based on her father's stepfamily.[7]

After the Revolution

Her play After the Revolution had its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Massachusetts, from July 22 to August 1, 2010.[8] The play premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in October 2010 (in previews) and ran through December 12, 2010. The play concerns the young granddaughter continuing her "family's Marxist tradition, devoting her life to the memory of her blacklisted grandfather." The cast featured Mare Winningham, Lois Smith (as Vera), Peter Friedman and Katharine Powell.[8]

The play received nominations for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actor and Actress, as well as the Outer Critics Circle Award, John Glassner award.[9] Charles Isherwood, in his review for The New York Times called the play "smart, engrossing", and wrote: it "...strikes a fresh note in being set among a family of exotic beings..."[10] Herzog won the "New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award" for this play; the award carries a prize of $5000.[11]

The Great God Pan

Her play The Great God Pan opened at Playwrights Horizons in December 2012 and closed on January 13, 2013.[12] Directed by Carolyn Cantor, the cast featured Becky Ann Baker, Peter Friedman, Jeremy Strong (Jamie), Keith Nobbs (Frank) and Joyce Van Patten.[13]

The play concerns a journalist, Jamie, age 32. Jamie is told by his old friend Frank that he is suing his (Frank's) father for sexual abuse; Frank suspects that Jamie was also abused. Although Jamie denies this, his life and relationships are thrown into turmoil. Herzog said that the play is "not about abuse, it's about memory and self-discovery."[14]

Charles Isherwood, reviewing in The New York Times, wrote: Herzog "...has emerged in the past few years as one of the bright theatrical lights of her generation.... She writes with a keen sensitivity to the complex weave of feelings embedded in all human relationships, with particular attention to the way we tiptoe around areas of radioactive emotion. Ms. Herzog makes quietly captivating dramas of our instinct to avoid drama, noting how momentous events in our lives can pass by almost without registering on the surface."[15] The play received a 2013 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Peter Friedman).[16]

Belleville

Belleville had its world premiere at the Yale Repertory Theatre in October through November 2011, directed by Anne Kauffman.[17] This play was commissioned by Yale Rep.[17][18][19] The play then opened Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop from March 3, 2013 to April 14, 2013.[20][21] Again directed by Anne Kauffman, the cast featured Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller.[22]

The play involves two young married Americans, Zack and Abby, living in Paris in a "funky bohemian apartment in up-and-coming Belleville". Zack’s "noble mission [is] to fight pediatric AIDS."[17]

The play received nominations for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director (Anne Kauffman) and Outstanding Lighting Design (Ben Stanton).[23] The play also received 2013 Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play (Maria Dizzia).[16] Herzog, for Belleville, was a finalist for the 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.[24][25][26]

Works

Awards and honors

She received the 2008 Helen Merrill Award for Aspiring Playwrights.[19]

She won a 2011 Whiting Award, which included a $50, 000 prize.[28] She received the Lilly Award in 2011. (The Lilly Award Foundation has as its mission to "celebrate the work of women in the theater and promote gender parity at all levels of theatrical production.")[29]

Herzog won the 2012 Obie Award in the category Best New American Play for 4000 Miles.[30]

She was a finalist for the 2012-2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Award; each finalist receives $2,500.[31]

References

  1. 1 2 Snyder, Diane (May 31, 2011). "Profile: Amy Herzog". TIME Out NY.
  2. ↑ Pacheco, Patrick (April 13, 2012). "Q&A: Playwright Amy Herzog on Family History, Political Activism, and the Culture of Capitalism". ARTINFO. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  3. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "'Disgraced' Wins 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama" Archived April 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Playbill, April 15, 2013
  4. ↑ Jones, Chad. "Amy Herzog gets mileage out of grandma" sfgate.com, January 13, 2013
  5. 1 2 3 Soloski, Alexis. "Amy Herzog balances the political and the personal in her dialogue-rich plays" Theatre Communications Group, March 2012, accessed May 26, 2013
  6. ↑ Paulson, Michael. "Yale Rep to Debut Works by Amy Herzog and Sarah Ruhl" The New York Times, March 11, 2016
  7. ↑ Snyder, Diane. "Profile Amy Herzog" Time Out New York , May 31, 2011
  8. 1 2 Jones, Kenneth. After the Revolution, Amy Herzog's Intergenerational Family Portrait, Unveiled Oct. 21" Archived February 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. playbill.com, October 21, 2010
  9. ↑ "Listing" Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed May 23, 2013
  10. 1 2 Isherwood, Charles. "Theater Review; 'After the Revolution'" The New York Times, November 10, 2010
  11. ↑ Kepler, Adam W. "Theater Prize Awarded" The New York Times, December 2, 2012
  12. ↑ " 'The Great God Pan' Listing" Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed May 23, 2013
  13. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "Amy Herzog's 'The Great God Pan' To Star Becky Ann Baker, Joyce Van Patten, Peter Friedman and More Off-Broadway" Archived March 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. playbill.com, August 29, 2012
  14. ↑ Simonson, Robert. "Playbill Brief Encounter With Amy Herzog, the Playwright of 'The Great God Pan' and 'Belleville' " Archived June 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. playbill.com, January 10, 2013
  15. 1 2 Isherwood, Charles. Theater Review; 'The Great God Pan,' by Amy Herzog, at Playwrights Horizons" The New York Times, December 18, 2012
  16. 1 2 Hetrick, Adam and Gans, Andrew. "Billy Porter, Andrea Martin, 'Pippin', 'Matilda', 'Vanya and Sonia' Win Drama Desk Awards" playbill.com, May 19, 2013
  17. 1 2 3 "Belleville" yalerep.org, accessed May 24, 2013
  18. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller Star in Belleville, New Amy Herzog Drama, Opening Off-Broadway March 3" Archived June 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. playbill.com, March 3, 2013
  19. 1 2 "Amy Herzog Biography" yalerep.org, accessed May 24, 2013
  20. 1 2 "'Belleville' Listing" Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed May 23, 2013
  21. ↑ Zoglin, Richard (Mar 11, 2013). "The Quiet American". TIME. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  22. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. " 'April in Paris': New York Theatre Workshop Extends Amy Herzog's 'Belleville' An Additional Two Weeks" Archived June 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. playbill.com, March 4, 2013
  23. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. " 'Dogfight', 'The Whale' and 'The Piano Lesson' Are Lortel Award Winners" playbill.com, May 5, 2013
  24. ↑ "2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize" Archived May 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. blackburnprize.org, March 19, 2013,accessed May 23, 2013
  25. ↑ "Blackburn Prize Finalists (e-k)" blackburnprize.org, accessed August 31, 2015
  26. ↑ Rickwald, Bethany. "Annie Baker, Amy Herzog, Laura Marks, and More Among Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalists" theatermania.com, March 2, 2013
  27. ↑ Taylor, Leah (Mar 27, 2013). "30 Seconds With… Amy Herzog". FlavorWire. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  28. ↑ "Amy Herzog Wins Whiting Award" stage-directions.com, accessed December 2, 2015
  29. ↑ "2011 Awards" "thelillyawards.org, accessed December 2, 2015
  30. ↑ "Amy Herzog: Playwright". Playwrights Horizons. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  31. ↑ "Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2012-13 Finalists Announced; Ceremony Set for 3/17" broadwayworld.com, March 1, 2013

External links

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