Drama Pulitzer Breaks N.Y. Monopoly : Awards: Playwright Robert Schenkkan, whose ‘Kentucky Cycle’ just closed at the Taper, hopes the honor will add life to the production.

Robert Schenkkan’s Pulitzer Prize for his two-part play, “The Kentucky Cycle,” which just closed at the Mark Taper Forum, thrusts West Coast theater into the national eye.

“It is safe to say that this is the first time that a play that has not played in New York has won the prize,” said Osborn Elliott, acting secretary of the Pulitzer board.

The epic production played at the Mark Taper Forum from Feb. 2 to March 29.

The play premiered at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle last summer before moving to the Taper. It was developed in workshops at the Taper, the Ensemble Studio Theatre in Los Angeles and the Sundance Institute in Utah, and was partially financed by the Fund for New American Plays, operating out of the Kennedy Center in Washington.

The production charts the history of three families in eastern Kentucky across 200 years--and in nine short plays.

Taper Artistic Director Gordon Davidson said the honor “is an acknowledgment of the fact that the American theater has decentralized . . . that where plays are presented is not how plays are judged.”

“Oh, my God, this is just fabulous,” said the Van Nuys-based Schenkkan, when told of the news by a Times reporter. “It’s unbelievable. There were so many good candidates this year.

“I’m especially thrilled for what this will mean for the life of the play,” said Schenkkan. He cited “a number of interested parties in New York, Washington, London” who have expressed interest in presenting the massive production. “I hope this will be taken as a positive sign.”

Asked why the play struck such a chord this year, Schenkkan replied: “There is a real profound spiritual crisis in the country. There is a loss of leadership, a feeling the center isn’t holding . . . The play speaks to that confusion.

“For a theatergoing audience,” he added, “it’s real strong theater. It doesn’t pretend to be a movie or TV. It’s a group of actors, standing in the light, sharing stories with us. And those are our stories. There’s a real hunger to explore who we are and why we got that way.”

Added Davidson: “It takes a hard look at America and sounds a clarion for a renewed commitment to breaking the chains of violence and squandered resources.”

Although exact figures were not available, the production was one of the costliest in Taper history. It was added to the Taper schedule at the last minute, and some subscribers who had sent in early renewals were sent bills for extra charges for their “Cycle” tickets. Regular tickets cost $75, and individual parts of the “Cycle” were not sold separately.

Box-office income was below projections, said Davidson, especially on weeknights. But the marathon one-day weekend performances, featuring both parts sandwiched around a three-hour dinner break, sold well, and expenses were “on target.” Most of the audiences reportedly responded with standing ovations.

A direct transfer to Broadway would have cost around $1 million, said Davidson. Now, it will probably cost more--when and if it happens. A Pulitzer “is not necessarily a key to commercial success,” noted Davidson.

Although critical response was quite favorable, the play’s first part generally drew better notices than part two.

“We knew every reason it should win,” said Davidson, “but we didn’t know how the total play was being received.”

A clue to the play’s eventual success may have been read in a favorable notice by William A. Henry III, the Time magazine critic who served as the chairman of the Pulitzer jury that screened candidates for the award. The “Cycle” plays “strive for mythic power--and attain it,” wrote Henry.

Other members of the jury were Lawrence DeVine of the Detroit Free Press; Gerald Nachman of the San Francisco Chronicle; Julius Novick, formerly of the New York Observer; and Dan Sullivan, formerly of the Los Angeles Times. Their recommendations were submitted to the 18-member Pulitzer board, which made the final decision.