Playwright Prizes Pulitzer and New Son

The Pulitzer Prize for “The Kentucky Cycle,” announced last week, marked the first time that a play won the most prestigious national drama prize without first being produced in New York. The “Cycle” has been staged only in the West.

Some observers hailed the event as proof of the decentralization of the American theater. But not the New York Times.

That newspaper’s next-day account managed to avoid mentioning that the “Cycle” had ever been produced. The article did note that Schenkkan has a master’s degree from Cornell--in New York--and “had worked as an actor and writer on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in regional theaters.” But the closest the Times came to acknowledging the “Cycle’s” remote production history was to observe that Schenkkan’s “triumph surprised many theater owners and critics in New York, many of whom had not seen his play.”

So where does Schenkkan want to take his “Cycle” next?

New York, New York.

“New York is not the center for play development,” said Schenkkan, “but there’s still a cachet to New York. A play that runs there has a longer life both here and abroad.”

Schenkkan continues to work on the “Cycle” in preparation for wherever it goes next--and for a published version expected next year. He’s revising the last half of Part II of his two-part epic. He declined to be more specific.

The last few weeks have been rewarding for Schenkkan in more deeply personal ways. He and his wife Mary Anne have a new son, Joshua, who was born on March 11, in the middle of the “Cycle’s” run at the Mark Taper Forum. “In a sense, it’s come full circle,” he said. “We had a stillborn son several years ago. That event had a powerful influence on me”--and on his writing of the “Cycle.”

The Taper has finally revealed the production cost of the “Cycle”: $1.15 million. It grossed around $900,000--including a house record-setting $129,654 in the final week. But tickets cost $5 to $7.50 more than for a normal night at the Taper. Average attendance was 83% of capacity, but that figure rose to 94% for the weekend marathons. Taper boss Gordon Davidson said that next time he does a two-part production (“Angels in America,” coming up next season), he’ll offer a weekday marathon, and only one two-weeknight option (instead of two) each week.