Ep190 - Lynn Nottage: Two-time Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright

The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

Lynn Nottage is a two time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, and the first and only woman to win the category twice, for “Ruined” and “Sweat”. She's a screenwriter, a Tony nominee, a producer, the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant fellowship and was included in Time magazine's 2019 list of the 100 Most Influential People. Lynn’s work can currently be found on 2 different Broadway stages: “Intimate Apparel” the opera at Lincoln Center Theater (Libretto), and “MJ” a new Broadway musical at the Neil Simon Theater (Libretto). She's an activist working with the Art for Justice Fund, among others, and is an associate professor of playwriting at Columbia University.

Lynn opens up about one of her main reasons for going into teaching, noting the importance of nurturing and mentorships, and being invested in the success of her students, particularly her students of color. She talks about getting involved with the Art for Justice Fund specially through her play “Clyde’s”, a not for profit invested in how art can be used to help people who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated tell their stories and “transcend their circumstances”. Lynn also chats about one of her newest projects, the new opera “Intimate Apparel”, and why it’s considered a brand new show rather than a revival.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Almost becoming a journalist instead of a playwright
• Researching and conducting interviews for her plays
• Creating Broadway industry internships through the Art for Justice Fund
• Reimagining her great grandmother's life to write Intimate Apparel
• Working on MJ the Musical

Connect with Lynn

• Twitter: @Lynnbrooklyn
• IG: @lynnnottage
• Web: http://www.lynnnottage.com

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Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.

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