The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama / May 5, 2020 by David Hwang

NEW YORK CITY: The Pulitzer committee has announced the recipients of the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prize for drama, with a $15,000 cash prize, was awarded to Michael R. Jackson for A Strange Loop. This year’s finalists were Will Arbery for Heroes of the Fourth Turning and David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori for Soft Power. Jackson’s is just one of 10 musicals to take home the Drama Pulitzer.

The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 by Joseph Pulitzer and recognizes achievements in journalism, literature, drama, and music composition. The award is administered by Columbia University.

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama / May 5, 2020 by David Hwang

A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson Wins 2020 Pulitzer for Drama

Heroes of the Fourth Turning and Soft Power were named finalists.

Michael R. Jackson's musical A Strange Loop has won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The musical ran in the summer of 2019 at Playwrights Horizons.

A Strange Loop explores the thoughts of Usher, a black, queer writer working a job he hates while writing his original musical: a piece about a black, queer writer, working a job he hates while writing his original musical. Jackson's blistering, momentous new musical (and his professional debut) follows a young artist at war with a host of demons — not least of which are the punishing thoughts in his own head — in an attempt to capture and understand his own strange loop. It was presented by Playwrights Horizons alongside Page 73 Productions.

Joining A Strange Loop on the Pulitzer Prize for Drama lineup are finalists Heroes of the Fourth Turning, by Will Arbury, and the musical Soft Power, written by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori. Heroes also premiered at Playwrights Horizons, with Soft Power having its New York premiere at the Public Theater.

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama / May 5, 2020 by David Hwang

Soft Power, by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori

A multi-layered and mischievous musical that deconstructs a beloved, original American art form to examine the promise and the limits of representation in both the theatrical and political senses of the word.

‘Soft Power’ leads Drama Desk nominations / April 24, 2020 by David Hwang

Mandy Hackett, Sam Pinkleton, David Henry Hwang, Leigh Silverman and Oskar Eustis attend the 'Soft Power' opening night. (Photo by Jim Spellman/Getty Images)

“Soft Power,” an Off-Broadway musical by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, received the highest number of Drama Desk nominations Tuesday.

The musical, which was directed by Leigh Silverman and played the Public Theater in September 2019, received 11 nominations, followed by “The Wrong Man” with nine nominations and “Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven” with eight. The nominations took into consideration Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows that opened before March 11.

The nominations were announced on Stars in the House Tuesday afternoon. The winners will be announced on May 31.