Theatre Press Releases Two New Tony Award® Nominees for Best Play from TCG Books:
Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire and
Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth
NEW YORK, NY – Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the publication of two Tony Award® nominees for Best Play: Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth.
Good People is the most substantial new Broadway play since August: Osage County.”
– Time Out New York
Winner:
New York Drama Critics’ Award for Best Play
David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People is a penetrating drama by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Rabbit Hole. Well known for his absurdist comedies Fuddy Meersand Kimberly Akimbo, Lindsay-Abaire brings his signature humor to his tough and tender new work. Good People recently concluded its world premiere production at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
“Good People is poignant, brave and almost subversive in its focus on what it really means to be down on your luck.” – New York Post
Set in Boston’s Southie, the neighborhood the playwright grew up in, Good People follows Margie Walsh who is facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break. When an old flame from the neighborhood – now “lace curtain Irish” – moves back to town, Margie hopes he may be her ticket to a fresh new start. Raising difficult questions with unsentimental observation and appealingly scrappy characters, Good People explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America.
“Shot through with aching authenticity, Good People is that rare play that is both timeless and completely keyed into a specific moment in American life – without the need for grasp for topicality.” – Hollywood Reporter
David Lindsay-Abaire is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of author Rabbit Hole, which was made into a feature film. He is the author of Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World,Kimberly Akimbo, A Devil Inside, Wonder of the World, as well as the librettos for the musicals High Fidelity and Shrek. He has written the screenplays for Rabbit Hole and the upcoming Rise of the Guardians and Oz: The Great and Powerful. Born in South Boston, he now lives in Brooklyn.
Jerusalem is one of the most exciting new plays in ages.”
–New York Times
Winner:
New York Drama Critics’ Award for Best Foreign Play
Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem isa comic, contemporary vision of life in rural England. Best known for his Olivier Award-winning black comedy Mojo, British playwright Jez Butterworth has penned “one of the best dramas of the 21st century” (London Guardian). Currently in the midst of a critically-acclaimed Broadway premiere at the Music Box Theatre, Jerusalem received an unprecedented set of five-star reviews from twelve London newspapers.
“Jez Butterworth’s gorgeous, expansive new play keeps coming at its audience in
unpredictable gusts, rolling from comic to furious, from winsome to bawdy.”
– Observer (London)
Set in Southwest England, Jerusalem’s former daredevil motorcyclist and modern-day Pied Piper, Johnny “Rooster” Byron, is “one of the most sensational creations in English drama of the past twenty years” (New Yorker). The roguish ne’er-do-well is a wanted man: the authorities want him evicted from his trailer in the woods, his son wants to be taken to the country fair, a stepfather wants to give him a serious beating and a motley crew of friends wants his never-ending reserve of drugs and booze. “A great, sprawling brawl of a play” (New York Times), Jerusalem is a rousing exploration of national identity, living on the margins and the urgent necessity for rebellion in our time.
“Butterworth's England is messy, chaotic, rebellious – and above all,
infused with the spirit of Shakespeare. Perfect.” – Guardian (London)
Jez Butterworth is the multi-award-winning author of Mojo. Other plays include The Night Heron, The Winterling and Parlour Song. He also wrote and directed the film adaptation of Mojo (1998) starring Ian Hart and Harold Pinter, and Birthday Girl (2002) starring Nicole Kidman and Ben Chaplin, and he co-wrote and produced Fair Game(2010) starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.
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Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed for fifty years to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 13,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the US Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is the nation’s largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre.
In 2005, TCG received the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in recognition of its impact on the national field. TCG and its member theatres are major contributors to the American theatre sector, which employs nearly 130,000 people, produces more than 187,000 performances each year and contributes $1.9 billion to the US economy annually. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, TCG is led by executive director Teresa Eyring and governed by a national board of directors representing the theatre field. Please visit TCG’s website and online bookstore at www.tcg.org.
Good People
By David Lindsay-Abaire
Paperback 208 pages
$14.95 978-1-55936-393-8
June 2011
Also by David Lindsay-Abaire, available from TCG Books:
Rabbit Hole $14.95 978-1-55936-290-0
and Rabbit Hole (movie tie-in) $14.95 978-1-55936-396-9
Jerusalem
By Jez Butterworth
Paperback 120 pages
$14.95 978-1-55936-408-9
June 2011
TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. Orders: 800-283-3572. SAN number: 63170X. Individuals may call 212-609-5900 or visit our online bookstore at www.tcg.org. For postage and handling, please add $5.00 for the first book and $.50 for each additional copy.
