The 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama has been awarded to Annie Baker's drama The Flick. The prestigious annual award goes to "a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life."
Already a recipient of an Obie Award (Baker's third) and an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, The Flick premiered in March 2013 at Playwrights Horizons in New York. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote that "Ms. Baker specializes in moments of intimacy that are awkward, hilarious and ineffably touching," and that this long and "lovingly observed play will sink deep into your consciousness, and probably stay there for a while."
Previously best known for Circle Mirror Transformation, Baker centered The Flick on the lives of three Massachusetts art-house movie theater employees. Company One gave the play an especially appropriate staging earlier this year at the Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, the first Boston theater built to show movies.
The Flick's brief history hasn't lacked controversy. Three hours long and with periods of long silence, it caused Playwrights Horizons to worry that supporters might cancel their subscriptions after some patrons walked out during intermission.
For her part, Baker doesn't hear the "silences" as such, but as "walking and sweeping and mopping and dustpan-banging--there's a whole symphony happening." She's also hearing a symphony of praise and recognition, culminating in announcement that her latest work has earned America's top drama prize.
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