June 1, 2009

Paul Shoulberg.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Theatre has chosen a winning play, "We Three" by Paul Shoulberg, in its Ruby Lloyd Apsey Play Search.

Every two years, Theatre UAB seeks new and original plays confronting racial or ethnic issues, especially those calling for ethnically diverse or multi-racial casting. UAB Theatre is especially interested in full-length dramas or comedies that could be performed by a diverse and talented group of college students as part of the department's regular season of plays, said Lee Shackleford, assistant professor of theater and play search director.

The Apsey Award is a $1,000 prize plus a staged reading at UAB, and the possibility of a fully mounted production. Previously produced and unproduced scripts are equally welcome. The award exists thanks to the generosity of Ruby Lloyd Apsey, who was an early supporter of Theatre UAB and of the creation of new plays. She left a fund from which Theatre UAB is able to give $1,000 every other year to a promising new playwright. This year, Theatre UAB received about 200 submissions, all full-length plays about 100 pages long, each of which had to be considered carefully. "We Three" stood out for intriguing characters, an engrossing plot, a strong sense of the true power of live performance, meaty roles for university-level actors and a fresh examination of race relations in America with genuinely challenging insights, Shackleford said.

Shoulberg will visit UAB Saturday, Oct. 24, for the staged reading with a talk-back with the audience about the play at 7:30 p.m. in the UAB Theatre Acting Studio, Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. S. Visit http://theatre.hum.uab.edu or call 205-934-3236.

Shoulberg, 32, is from Lawrence, Kan., and now lives in the Bronx, N.Y. His play "Reel" premiered as part of Indiana University's main stage season in 2006, was performed at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee, Wis., as part of the American College Theatre Festival, and was the winner of the Kennedy Center's 2007 Mark Twain Playwriting Award for Comedy. His play "Cracker" won the American College Theater Festival Region III Full Length Script Award in 2007. His play "Tweaked" received second place in the University of Tulsa's New Works For Young Women Competition and was the runner-up in Stony Brook University's 2006 John Gassner New Play Competition. His play "Dying on the Vine" was a semifinalist in the 2008 O'Neill Theatre Conference and was selected for the 2008 Last Frontier Theatre Conference. His play "Slip, Stumble, Fall" was a finalist in HotCity Theatre's New Play Competition and received an Honorable Mention in The University of Tulsa's New Works For Young Women Competition in 2007. His screenplay "A Brilliant Mess" was a first-round alternate in the first Project Greenlight competition.

About UAB

The UAB Department of Theatre has won the highest honors awarded to university theaters, including Best in Region from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). In 2008, UAB's production of "In the Blood" was one of three shows chosen by KCACTF from 300 in consideration nationwide. Faculty members in the department continue to work professionally in addition to teaching. UAB Theatre performances are presented at the Alys Stephens Center, UAB's own world-class performing arts center. Next year the department will celebrate its 40th anniversary.