Laurents/Hatcher Award Goes to Daniel Pearle for \'A Kid Like Jake\'

The new play “A Kid Like Jake,” about raising a child in the world of Manhattan privilege, has won the 2013 Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award, an unusually structured prize that provides $50,000 to the writer and an additional $100,000 toward the production costs for the show’s premiere. The playwright is Daniel Pearle, and Lincoln Center Theater has already announced that it will mount “A Kid Like Jake” at the Claire Tow Theater in June through its LCT3 program, which provides tickets for $20.

Trustees for the foundation of the writer and director Arthur Laurents (“West Side Story,” “Gypsy”) and his partner of 52 years, Tom Hatcher, announced the selection of Mr. Pearle on Tuesday; he recently earned a master’s in fine arts from the New School of Drama.

“A Kid Like Jake” focuses on a husband and wife applying to New York’s elite private schools for admission of their 4-year-old son, and how they deal with concerns abot his idiosyncrasies like a passion for Cinderella and dress-up. Evan Cabnet will direct the play for LCT3.

The award was first presented in 2011 to Jeff Talbott for his play “The Submission,” which was produced at MCC Theater in New York, and last year the prize went to Jon Kern for “Modern Terrorism,” which was mounted at Second Stage Theater.