Jacksonville University Awards $10,000 Helford Prize to Dean Poynor
Jacksonville University Awards $10,000 Helford Prize to Dean Poynor
Jacksonville, Fla.—Jacksonville University’s College of Fine Arts is proud to announce Dean Poynor the winner of the $10,000 Helford Prize, a national playwriting contest developed by JU alumnus Bruce Helford. Poynor’s winning play, "Losing Sleep," was selected from more than 200 original plays.
"I am thrilled to receive the Helford Prize," said Poynor. "As an emerging playwright, it is an honor to have my work singled out by both Jacksonville University and Bruce Helford."
Taking place in a sleep lab, "Losing Sleep" is an intimate portrait of loss and recovery that challenges us to look deeply into the reasons why we hold on to our past. The main character John exists in a meaningless limbo, holding on to his past dreaming of his former wife. He hides from the world by working in the lab.
Every night patients come to him looking for a cure, and he tries to diagnose their problems with limited tools. He has exiled himself so that he can avoid contact with anything that would disturb his carefully guarded grief. His only true companion in his pain is a ghost who visits him during the night. John, however, slowly begins to confront this grief when a new patient comes to the lab seeking help, offering him a new chance at love.
Poynor is an emerging playwright currently pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in dramatic writing at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He is also working on a new drama about law.
In 2005, Helford began offering the $10,000 award as a call to spark new, creative playwriting. In addition, he wanted to provide JU students the opportunity to work with a playwright and gain experience producing an original play. "Losing Sleep" will be produced by the JU theater department during the 2009/2010 season.
"Creating these plays gives JU theatre students a one-of-a-kind learning experience," said Bill Hill, dean of the College of Fine Arts. "It requires them to visualize the entire process– acting, directing, lighting, stage and costume design."
Helford, a Peabody award-winning producer, graduated from JU in 1975. He is president of Mohawk Productions in Burbank, Calif., and was the creative force behind "The Drew Carey Show" and "George Lopez."
