"Clybourne Park"

• The story of a 50-year clash of racial relations in America, "Clybourne Park" won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Actor turned playwright Bruce Norris partially based his two-act play on "A Raisin in the Sun." Set in a Chicago living room in two time periods, 1959 and 2009, the plot centers on a house as it is sold by an African-American family, then decades later by a white couple. Told with wit and tenderness, each act shows the changes in racial views through the families eyes. The play also won the Evening Standard Award and the Olivier Award for its London show. The play had its first show at Playwrights Horizons Theater School at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2010, "Clybourne Park" premiered at the Wolly Mammoth Theater in Washington, D.C.
  
  

"Red"

• An age-old conflict between art and money stirs emotions in "Red," a two-character study about famed abstract artist Mark Rothko and his brash assistant. Playwright John Logan fashioned a battle-of-wills that won six Tony awards in 2010, more than any other play, and the Drama Desk Award. The year is 1958 in New York City and Rothko (played by Tony-nominated actor Alfred Molina) works on paintings for the Four Seasons Hotel restaurant. His assistant, Ken (Tony-winner Eddie Redmayne) starts to question Rothko's artistic principles for working on a project solely for the money. The Donmar Warehouse produced "Red" in London in 2009 with Molina and Redmayne repeating their roles on Broadway. "Red" won Tony Awards for best play, director, set design, lighting design and music and sound.
  
  

"August: Osage County"

• Tracey Letts' 2007 Southern-fried satirical play, "August: Osage County," is a melting pot of family secrets, drugs and a mysterious disappearance. The 3-½ hour play tells the story of the Westons of Oklahoma, who reunite to find their missing father. Headed by a self-medicating mother, Violet, and her array of eccentric adult children, their loose family bonds start to unravel as they search for the father. A shocking secret is revealed that almost destroys them. Besides the Pulitzer Prize, "August: Osage County" won every major New York drama award including the Tony Award, Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award.
  
  

"War Horse"

• Part epic theater performed with puppets and part sentimental horse story, "War Horse" is told against the backdrop of World War I. Joey, a life-size puppet of a horse, meets Albert, a young English boy who raises him from a colt. Joey is used by the British Army in the war, so Albert joins to find and save his beloved horse. All the puppets in the 2-½ hour play are operated by puppeteers onstage in view of the audience. South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company designed the intricate puppets. British playwright Nick Stafford based the play on the 1982 book by Michael Morpurgo, and the National Theatre in London produced it. "War Horse" won six Laurence Oliver Awards in 2008, and opened on Broadway in 2011.