Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Fair Wins Henderix Playwright Contest

A former resident and 1970 Gurdon High School graduate took top honors in recent playwriting competition sponsored by his Alma Mater, Hendrix College in Conway.

Newman Fair won the first place award in a contest for playwrights who are alumni of Hendrix.

Past winners have won significant awards in national and regional competitions and have had their play produced professionally in Arkansas, California, New York, and Massachusetts. The contest has been fostering the growth of young playwrights for over 10 years.

Fair's The Morning of the Millennium explores conflicts among members of a church with "grand visions of an apocalyptic future" and expectations for a "Rapture" at the beginning of the next millennium.

"You have strong characters and situation," said Dallas playwright Glenn Allen Smith of Fair's play. "You have done an excellent job of presenting both sides of a controversial subject rather than turning this into a tract for one particular viewpoint."

Fair is currently a member of the Missouri Association of Playwrights in St. Louis and is helping organize a community theatre in Perrville.

"I became interested in playwriting," Fair explained, "While participating in theatre productions of The Potter's House Players, a theatre group associated with the Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C."

"You can create a meaningful theartre experience wherever you live," Fair commented. "There are always people around you with talent and energy, and there is always an audience to communicate with and to learn from. Even in an age of Hollwood mega-hits, there is something electrifying about seeing live people stand up in front of you and act from their hearts."

Born in Lake Village, Fair grew up in several towns in south Arkansas, graduating from Gurdon High School in 1970 and from Hendrix in 1974. He worked for 12 years witha Christian citizens' group dealing with hunger issues in Washington, D.C. He is now on sabbatical to concentrate on his writing. His wife Candace Duncan Fair graduated from Hendrix in 1977 and is a social worker and family therapist. They have two children, Andrew 10 and Emily, 3.

Fair's parents are the Reverend and Mrs.Cagle E. Fair, Sr., of Texarkana. Mr. Fair, now retired, served 38 years as pastor in the Little Rock Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The Hendrix-Murphy Foundatin Playwriting Contest was founded in 1986 from a proposal by two writing students. Contest winners receive cash awards, and all entrants are presented with in-depth analyses of their plays.

The Foundation, established in 1978, funds programs in literature and language at Hendrix. Founded by Mr. Charles H. Murphy, Jr. former CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation in El Dorado, the program honors the memory of Mr. Murphy's mother, Bertie Wilson Murphy and her long time devotion to the study of literature and languages.