Jeremy O. Harris Names Jesús I. Valles’ Queer History Play ‘Bathhouse.pptx’ As Yale Drama Series Prize Winner
16.03.2023 - 22:43
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Jesús I. Valles’ play Bathhouse.pptx has been awarded the prestigious 2023 Yale Drama Series Prize, with the honor’s judge Jeremy O. Harris calling the new work an exploration of “a queer history that is quickly being erased.”
The prize for emerging playwrights, now in its 16th year, was selected from more than 1,500 entries. As is the prize’s custom, Harris, the author of Slave Play and a Yale alum, was the selection process’ presiding playwright, or sole judge. Previous judges have included Edward Albee, David Hare, John Guare, Marsha Norman, Nicholas Wright, Ayad Akhtar and Paula Vogel.
“This is one of the most exciting speculative fictions I’ve encountered in years,” Harris said, “using a unique dramaturgy to explore a queer history that is quickly being erased. It brought to mind the works of many heroes like Samuel Delaney, Martin Crimp, and Kathy Acker.”
Winning playwright Velles said, “This work is a group project for perverts. Somewhere between lecture, re-enactment, and cruising ground, an informative presentation on the history of cleanliness and bathing starts to burst at the seams with the ghosts of a bathhouse at the end of the world.”
Valles will receive the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000, as well as publication of the winning play by Yale University Press. A Mexican immigrant, educator, storyteller, performer, and poet from Cuidad Juarez, Velles has received awards and support from OUTsider Festival, Teatro Vivo, The VORETEX, The Kennedy Center, New York Theatre Workshop and The Flea. They are currently an MFA playwrighting student at Brown University.
In a new aspect of the prize, the 2023 winner and short-listed entrants will take part in a month-long residency called Substratum, lead