Martyna Majok ( ; born 1985) is a Polish-born American playwright who received the
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
for her play ''
Cost of Living
Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time can be operationalized in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a cer ...
''. She emigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. Majok studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School. Her plays are often politically engaged, feature dark humor, and experiment with structure and time.
Her breakthrough came with the play ''Ironbound'' (2014). As her work gained wider acclaim and recognition, Majok, who has a diverse writing style, debuted ''Cost of Living'' (2016), ''Queens'' (2018), and ''Sanctuary City'' (2021). In April 2021, it was announced that she would adapt ''
The Great Gatsby
''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...
'' for the Broadway stage, with
Florence Welch
Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English singer, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. The band's debut studio album, ''Lungs'' (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart and wo ...
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...
and emigrated to the United States with her mother as a child. She was raised mostly in
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,Newark. She grew up in a working-class, multicultural immigrant neighborhood; she recalls: "My mother began learning English when she came over. Everybody was working similar jobs. They had factory jobs together; they were cleaning houses, and taking care of the elderly." She went to public school. Majok won a playwriting contest for students from New Jersey as the only winner not from a private school that year; it was her first foray into drama. In high school, she wrote skits for an English language learning program for immigrant parents and children. At age 17, Majok was inspired by Sam Mendes' production of ''
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...
'' at Studio 54, her first time in the theater, where she went with $45 she had won hustling pool.
Education
She attended the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
on scholarship, where she attended drama classes. Initially unsure of herself, Majok began to take part in theatrical performances when she discovered Sarah Kane’s plays in the library. She discovered that she preferred to write for the theater, in order to create roles she could identify with. To support herself, she worked as a waitress and personal care giver for the disabled. She was also awarded the Merage Fellowship for the American Dream, an award for immigrant students, to help fund an education in writing. Majok then went on to attend the
Yale School of Drama
The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
and the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
, all on stipends. She was a 2012–13 NNPN playwright-in-residence, the 2015–16 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at The Lark, and a 2018–19 Hodder Fellow at the
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
.
Career, style and themes
Majok is known for exploring underrepresented communities in her writing. She often gives voices to immigrants or displaced people, women with appetites and drives orbiting around their limitations, the working class, and persons with disabilities. Her work touches on class, yearning, loneliness and the journey towards connection with other human beings in America. While her subject matters can be tough, humor is important for her and Majok's characters brim with life and complications. Her women are strong and fight for their dignity. Reviewing her 2018 play ''Queens,'' an LA critic stated: "Majok specializes in anti-sentimentality."
Talking about her working method, she emphasized: "Workshops, whether in the 'traditional' playwright-of-a-play method or in a room with artists and no script, are my favorite part of making theatre." Discussing her inspirations, Majok pointed out her mother, and also said:
Her breakthrough play, ''Ironbound'' (2014), depicts the illusion of the American Dream and fighting for a place in the world through the eyes of a hard-working, barely-getting-by immigrant woman, living in the industrial wastelands of New Jersey. It is based on experiences from the author's mother. The play was praised by critcs, won several awards including the 2016
Helen Hayes Award
The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...
s's Charles McArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play or Musical, and was featured in the top-ten of the 2014 '' Kilroys' List''. ''Ironbound'' opened Off-Broadway in 2016 at the WP Theatre/ Rattlestick.
''
Cost of Living
Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time can be operationalized in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a cer ...
'' (2016), the winner of
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
, explores the interactions of abled and disabled individuals. Majok takes a broader look at class division, financially precarious characters, and the delicate emotional balance of need and care. It played Off-Broadway in a
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has g ...
production at
City Center
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
in June and July 2017. Jesse Green of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote: "in the play, two characters chafe against the way that a wheelchair, like color or language, can be a marker of disfavored status within the larger, normative society... it would be a mistake to see ''Cost of Living'' as an identity play about people with disabilities. Rather, it’s a play about disabilities with people. In both of its stories, which eventually collide, the biggest handicaps are the universal ones: fear and disconnection." This piece also won Outstanding Play at the
Lucille Lortel Awards
The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres ...
, got nomination for Outer Critics Circle Award's Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, and was featured in the top-ten of the 2016 ''Kilroys' List'', among other accolades.
''Cost of Living'' has been produced around the world including in New York, Los Angeles, London, Toronto, Poland, Israel, and Cyprus.
In 2018, ''Queens'' (''queens'') premiered Off-Broadway at the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
's LCT3/Claire Tow Theater. The play encompasses 16 years during which documented and undocumented women of two generations and different origin live together, in a basement apartment in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, New York, trying to support each other in their struggle with everyday life. The choices they have made come back to confront them. ''Queens'' is being developed into an original series for HBO; Majok is penning the adaptation and is set to executive produce.
In ''Sanctuary City'' (2020), she looks at a pair of teenage immigrants, one recently naturalized and the other undocumented, who hatch a plan to keep the latter in the U.S. The action takes place in Newark during the early 2000s when the
DREAM Act
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States a ...
was proposed and young immigrants hoped it might be a resolution to their uncertain status. "DREAMers, friends, and lovers negotiate the promise of safety and the weight of responsibility in America." Majok's story asks what we’re willing to sacrifice for someone we love, she said: “some of the things I'm exploring are the extent to which we help when we can, how much we are willing to care for and sacrifice for another person, and the cost of that, for both sides, particularly when coming from a world of limited means and guarantees.” ''Sanctuary City'', produced by New York Theatre Workshop, had a world premiere Off-Broadway at the
Lucille Lortel Theatre
The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unch ...
in March 2020, but was suspended after a few days due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. It received an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
Majok's works has been presented and developed with many other theater companies, including
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
,
Round House
Roundhouse may refer to:
Architecture and buildings Types
* Roundhouse (dwelling), a kind of house with circular walls, prehistoric and modern, all over the world
** Atlantic roundhouse, an Iron Age stone building found in the northern and weste ...
,
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
,
Geffen Playhouse
The Geffen Playhouse (or the Geffen) is a not-for-profit theater company founded by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located ...
, Fountain Theatre, and Steppenwolf Theatre. International productions include London, Toronto, Sydney, Poland, Israel, and Cyprus.
Among her other accolades and fellowships, she received Hermitage Greenfield Prize Jury in Drama in 2018 (as first female recipient of this commission), New York Theatre Workshop's 2050 Fellowship, and
Puffin Foundation
The Puffin Foundation, established in 1983, is a non-profit organization that aims to amplify the voices of minorities who may underrepresented due to their race, gender, social philosophy, etc. The foundation achieves this mission of fostering ...
Uncharted
''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who travel across th ...
programs.
She has taught playwriting at
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...
,
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright who received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play ''How I Learned to Drive.'' A longtime teacher, Vogel spent the bulk of her academic career – from 1984 to 2008 – at Bro ...
at
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
. Publications:
Dramatists Play Service
Dramatists Play Service (also known as The Play Service) is a theatrical-publishing and licensing house, established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society for Authors' Representatives. DPS publishes English-language ...
,
Samuel French
Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays.
Biography
French foun ...
In April 2021, it was announced that Martyna Majok is set to adapt
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
's ''
The Great Gatsby
''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...
'' for the Broadway stage, with
Florence Welch
Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English singer, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. The band's debut studio album, ''Lungs'' (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart and wo ...
and
Doveman
Thomas Bartlett (born October 13, 1981), also known as Doveman, is an American pianist, producer, and singer. He has released four solo albums as Doveman, four albums as a member of The Gloaming, duo albums with the composer Nico Muhly and the ...
writing music. Rebecca Frecknall, with whom Majok worked on ''Sanctuary City'', will direct.
"Martyna and Rebecca are two of the most exciting theatre artists of their generation and, together, this extraordinary team brings a thrilling new perspective to one of the most culturally significant books of all time," producers said.
Plays
Full-length plays
2014: ''Ironbound''
''Ironbound'' is the story of a Polish immigrant, Darja, living in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
working as a house cleaner and factory worker, as Majok's mother used to do. It examines the American Dream from Darja's eyes throughout 22 years. When asked how much Darja is like her mom Majok said: "A lot of the circumstances are hers, but the personality is more mine".
The play premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago in July 2014. In the fall of 2015, it was shown at the Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland as a part of the Women's Voices Theatre Festival, where on opening night 300 people gave a standing ovation. ''Ironbound'' went on to an Off-Broadway run at the
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Rattlestick Theater is a non-profit off-Broadway theater based in the West Village
The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City.
The traditional b ...
in 2016, in a co-production with
Women's Project Theater WP Theater (formerly known as Women's Project Theater) is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater based in New York City. It is the nation’s oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing and promoting the work of female-iden ...
. It started previews March 3, opened March 16, and closed April 24. The play featured direction by Daniella Topol, sets and lighting by Justin Townsend, costumes by
Kaye Voyce
Kaye Voyce is an Obie Award winning New York City based costume designer known for her extensive Off-Broadway work and her work in Broadway theatres on ''Significant Other'', directed by Trip Cullman, ''The Real Thing'', directed by Sam Gold, starr ...
, and sound by Jane Shaw. The cast included
Marin Ireland
Marin Yvonne Ireland is an American actress. Known for her work in theatre and independent films, ''The New York Times'' deemed Ireland "one of the great drama queens of the New York stage". Her accolades include a Theatre World Award and nomina ...
as Darja,
Shiloh Fernandez
Shiloh Thomas Fernandez (born February 26, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the television series '' Jericho'' and ''United States of Tara'', and the films '' Deadgirl'', ''Red Riding Hood'', and the 2013 remake of '' Evil ...
as Vic, and
Morgan Spector
Morgan Michael Spector (born October 4, 1980) is an American actor. Spector has appeared in the TV series ''Allegiance'' (2015), '' The Mist'' (2017), ''Homeland'' (2018), and '' Pearson'' (2019), as well as the films '' The Drop'' (2014), ''Chri ...
as Tommy. The drama was also staged at the Geffen Playhouse, and National Theatre of Warsaw, amongst other theatres in America and abroad.
Nelson Pressley of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' called ''Ironbound'' a "knockout" and stated: "you seldom see plays that are both harsh and wonderful." BroadwayWorld's Jennifer Perry emphasized: "Majok proves exceptional at writing (a) richly-drawn character(s).", and it was ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' critic's pick. In 2013, the play script won the Smith Prize for Political Theater, a joint commission/award supported and administered by the National New Play Network, and it has also won the
Aurora Theatre
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
's Global Age Project Prize, the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize, and the Charles McArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play or Musical at the 2016
Helen Hayes Award
The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...
s.
2016: ''Cost of Living''
''
Cost of Living
Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time can be operationalized in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a cer ...
'', for which Martyna Majok won the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
, premiered at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival
The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...
in 2016, and then transferred Off-Broadway in a
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has g ...
production at
City Center
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
in June and July 2017. The drama includes Eddie and Ani – an ex-truck driver and his wife who is quadriplegic, John – a witty doctoral student with cerebral palsy, and Jess – his over-worked caregiver. ''Cost of Living'' began its life as a one-act called ''John, who’s here from Cambridge'' which premiered in 2015, and was expanded and renamed. Majok dedicated the play to her grandfather who died in 2012.
''Cost of Living'' received its West Coast premiere at the Fountain Theatre in November 2018, British premiere in January and Polish premiere in March 2019.
The play won Outstanding New Play at the 2018
Lucille Lortel Awards
The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres ...
(tied with
Jocelyn Bioh
Jocelyn Bioh is a Ghanaian-American writer, playwright and actor. She graduated from Ohio State University with a BA in English and Theater and got her master's degree in Playwriting from Columbia University. Jocelyn's Broadway credits include ...
's ''School Girls: Or, The African Mean Girls Play''), Edgerton New Play Prize,
The Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
's
Jean Kennedy Smith
Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (February 20, 1928June 17, 2020) was an American diplomat, activist, humanitarian, and author who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She was a member of the Kennedy family, the eighth of nine c ...
Award, and the Women's Invitational Prize, among others. It was nominated for the 2018 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. Both performances were directed by
Jo Bonney
Jo Bonney is an American theater director who has worked Off-Broadway, regionally and internationally, primarily focused on the development of new plays.
Early life and education
Bonney was born in Australia. She attended Sydney University bef ...
, who was nominated for Outstanding Director of a Play at the Outer Critics Circle Awards. They also both featured actors with disabilities –
Katy Sullivan
Katy Sullivan is an American actress, producer, writer, and Paralympic Games, Paralympic track and field athlete and US record holder.
Early life
Sullivan was born a bilateral transfemoral amputee, missing both lower legs. She grew up in Alabama ...
as Ani, who was nominated for a Lucille Lortel award and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance, and Gregg Mozgala who portrayed John. Mozgala was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award and won a Lucille Lortel award for his performance.
2018: ''Queens''
On 5 March 2018, Majok's production of ''Queens'' (stylized ''queens'') premiered Off-Broadway at the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
's LCT3/Claire Tow Theater. The story centers around a group of immigrant women which come from different countries and live in an illegal basement apartment in
Queens, New York
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
Kaye Voyce
Kaye Voyce is an Obie Award winning New York City based costume designer known for her extensive Off-Broadway work and her work in Broadway theatres on ''Significant Other'', directed by Trip Cullman, ''The Real Thing'', directed by Sam Gold, starr ...
, lighting by Matt Frey, and sound by Stowe Nelson. It closed on March 25, 2018. The cast included Jessica Love, Nadine Malouf, Ana Reeder, Andrea Syglowski,
Zuzanna Szadkowski
Zuzanna Szadkowski (; born October 22, 1978) is a Polish-American actress known for her role as Dorota Kishlovsky on CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl''. Szadkowski also appeared on ''The Knick'', ''Girls'', '' Search Party'', ''The Good Wife'' ...
, Sarah Tolan-Mee, and Nicole Villamil. Before its premiere, the play spent two summers in development workshops. The first summer (2016), it was the WildWind Performance Lab of Texas Tech University School of Theatre and Dance, and the next summer, these were The Ground Floor at the
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley.
History
The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident p ...
and the
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special Awa ...
's National Playwrights Conference.
This time Jesse Green of ''The New York Times'' called Majok's play a "knockout". ''Queens'' received West Coast premiere at the
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
in July 2018, in a new two-act version. The play is being developed into a series for HBO.
2020: ''Sanctuary City''
''Sanctuary City'', a play produced by New York Theatre Workshop "that blends the personal and political in its depiction of a newly naturalized teenager who decides to marry her undocumented best friend so he can remain in the country", had a short Off-Broadway engagement in 2020. Previews started on 4 March at the
Lucille Lortel Theatre
The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unch ...
, and it was set to open on 24 March, but the run was suspended due to the city-wide shutdown amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The production was directed by Rebecca Frecknall and designed by Tom Scutt, Mikaal Sulaiman, and Isabella Byrd. The cast consisted of Jasai Chase Owens, Sharlene Cruz, and Austin Smith. The stage management team was Merrick A.B. Williams and Veronica Lee. The production officially opened on September 21, 2021.
The project received an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, and was supported by a Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Theater Development Grant and in part by the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
.
Awards and honors
Majok's awards include:
* 2007
UChicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
's the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize in Playwriting
* 2011 and 2018 Jane Chambers Feminist Playwriting Prize
* Champions of Change Award from the NYC Mayor's Office
*
Lilly Awards
The Lilly Awards are an American awards ceremony recognizing extraordinary women in theatre. An annual celebration is held in New York to honor female writers, composers, directors, designers, producers and advocates. Some men have also been award ...
' Stacey Mindich Prize
*
American Theatre Critics Association The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) is the only nationwide professional association of theatre critics in the United States. The ATCA membership consists of theatre critics who write reviews and critiques of live theatre for print, broad ...
Aurora Theatre
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
's Global Age Project Prize – ''Ironbound''
* 2014 Marin Theatre's David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize – ''Ironbound''
* 2016
Helen Hayes Award
The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...
s' Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play or Musical – ''Ironbound''
* 2016 Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award
* 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award – ''Cost of Living''
*
The Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
's
Jean Kennedy Smith
Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (February 20, 1928June 17, 2020) was an American diplomat, activist, humanitarian, and author who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She was a member of the Kennedy family, the eighth of nine c ...
Award – ''Cost of Living''
* Ashland New Plays Festival Women's Invitational Prize – ''Cost of Living''
* 2017
Dramatists Guild
The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market.
Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Mem ...
's
Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed." Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright ...
Award
*
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
– ''Cost of Living''
* 2018
Lucille Lortel Award
The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...
for Outstanding New Play – ''Cost of Living''
* 2019 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award – ''Sanctuary City''