LA Playwright Wendy Graf Named 2019 Gold Medallion Winner

Los Angeles playwright Wendy Graf has been named the inaugural Gold Medallion winner by the Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative for her play “Exit Wounds.”

Graf is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA and Pacific Resident Theatre writing units, and of the Dramatists Guild of America. Her work was one of two Silver Medallion winners that beat out 1,241 plays from five countries and 43 states submitted to the Hart Initiative.

“I’m thrilled and honored. It’s been a long journey but I’m thrilled,” Graf told the Journal. “I learned so much about the pay along the way and I want to especially thank the actors who were so game and tremendous and helped me learn about the play. I hope it will go on to have another life because unfortunately, I don’t think the subject is outdated.” 

There were 23 semi-finalists resulting in two Silver Medallion winners, “Exit Wounds” and “Confederates” by Suzanne Bradbeer. Both plays were being produced at the Grove Theater Center in Burbank last fall.

“I was honored and thrilled to be on the same bill as [Bradbeer] because she is a mensch,” Graf said. “That’s the best way I can put it. We were very supportive of each other. We have a friendship that will last a lifetime.”

Graf’s other works include “Unemployed Elephants–A Love Story”; “Please Don’t Ask About Becket”; “All American Girl”; “Closely Related Keys”; “No Word in Guyanese for Me” and “Behind the Gates” — to name a few.

Her latest winning piece, “Exit Wounds” explores the effect a horrific tragedy can have on three generations of a family.

“There were times in my life where I couldn’t breathe but it paid off,” Graf said touching on her writing process. “You never know what you’re gonna have each step of the way but the reaction I got was so incredible and so intense. People were thinking about it for days and they would email me after they saw it and tell me they were still thinking about the play. If I can accomplish that, what better gift can you give to a playwright?”

Details on the next cycle of the Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative will be announced later this spring.