Stage Write

By Melissa Hall   James Still, the playwright-in-residence at the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT), was announced as the 2020 Indiana Authors Awards Drama Winner for his trilogy The Jack Plays. The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award winners receive an award made from Indiana steel and limestone, a $5,000 cash prize, and the opportunity to make a $500 gift to an Indiana public library. The Jack Plays is a series of three plays featuring members of the same family, The Jack Plays travel from a Vermont Thanksgiving dinner, to the canals of Venice, and into a CIA operation in Yemen. Still’s ability to give his characters’ depth in all situations allows audiences to connect with the family and their struggles with grief and identity.   The IRT is the only theatre that has produced all three productions: The House that Jack Built (2012), Miranda (2017), and Appoggiatura (2018). Still has served as their first and only playwright-in-residence for 23 years. He has written more