For his Essay Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life, the American author Kenneth Gross received the 2011-12 prize for the year's best work in dramatic criticism - the George Jean Nathan Award.
Gross is professor of English at the University of Rochester. According to the Award Committee, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life "offers a brilliantly idiosyncratic meditation on the fascination 'wooden acting' exerts over its delighted but often unnerved human audiences."
The George Jean Nathan Award is the richest and one of the most distinguished prizes in the American theatre. The award committee announced two recipients fot the prize 2011/2012.
An excerpt of Kenneth Gross' essay "The Madness of Puppets" recently has been published in "double" no. 1/2012 - the German magazine for puppetry and object theatre.
