TDF, Please Reconsider 2010 Wasserstein Prize

Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.
-- Wendy Wasserstein

We the undersigned respectfully request that you reconsider the decision regarding the 2010 Wasserstein Prize and select a recipient, or recipients, to receive the award.  Your claim that %u201Cnone of the plays were truly outstanding in their current incarnation" sends a discouraging message to early career theatre artists at a time when these artists need more support than ever.   The prize is not to support a production of the play, but the promise of the writer.

We must nurture the next generation of women playwrights. In these times, when theatres are closing and cutting back on new play development, and when still only 20% of plays produced by American theatres annually are written by women, recognition by the Wasserstein Prize has the power to change the life of the recipient.

As members of the American theatre community, we ask you to reconsider your decision and do something remarkable for a young woman playwright.