Jacqueline Goldfinger has been awarded the 2017 Yale Drama Prize for her play “Bottle Fly,” a multi-generational family drama. The honor comes with a stipend of $10,000, and “Bottle Fly” will be given a staged reading at the National Theatre Studio in London this November. Yale University Press will also publish the play.
“Bottle Fly” was chosen as the winner by playwright Nicholas Wright (“A Human Being Died That Night”) in cooperation with Yale University Press. “It’s solely sponsored by the David Charles Horn Foundation and given out annually for a play by an emerging playwright, selected by a judging panel of one distinguished contemporary playwright,” the source explains. Original, unpublished, full-length English plays are eligible for the international open submission competition, which received over 1,000 submissions from 45 countries this year.
Carla Grauls’ “Natives” was among the runners-up for the award.
“Set in a bar in the Everglades, Jacqueline Goldfinger’s ‘Bottle Fly’ brings together a rich variety of American classes, cultures, heritages, and desires,” commented Wright. “Its voice is passionate and straight-from-the-heart; the world it shows us is earthy, cruel, and hilarious; the story at its core is one of profound and reckless love.”
In a statement, Goldfinger emphasized the critical importance of having child care while working on the play. “‘Bottle Fly’ was the first full play that I wrote after having children,” she explained. “It was only possible because Yaddo and the Sustainable Arts Foundation blessed me with (baby free) time to spin a story from family lore. I found myself reflecting on the stories that I’d been told growing up, and those I would choose to tell my children.” She continued, “I was also inspired by Octavio Solis’ family drama, ‘Lydia,’ as well as by the disappearing Everglades culture, which is being overrun by asphalt highways, spendthrift retirees, and other forms of ‘progress.’”
Child care in creative industries is a major issue that affects all parents and carers, but especially women. Fortunately the topic is being discussed more often and candid as of late. Raising Films recently held an Industry Summit to discuss possible solutions for parents and carers working in the film and TV industry. Hope Dickson Leach, co-founder of Raising Films and writer-director of “The Levelling” has said, “The film industry’s default setting is to ignore caring needs” and “parenting is a proven restriction to career progression.” A recent report suggested that “women were 75 percent more likely than men to cite parental responsibilities as a career barrier in the creative industries.”
Goldfinger’s previous plays include “Slip/Shot” and “The Oath.”
