Playwright Heather McDonald, the winner of the 1999 Kesselring Prize for playwriting, will be presented with the honor on Nov. 21 at the National Arts Club in New York City. The award, given annually by the NAC, is bestowed upon an emerging dramatist and carries a $10,000 cash prize. McDonald is the author of An Almost Holy Picture, which was due to open Off-Broadway this fall in a production starring David Morse and directed by Michael Mayer. That venture fell through, however, when an appropriate theatre did not present itself. Producers are still searching for a suitable house.

The presentation of the Kesselring Prize -- named after Arsenic and Old Lace playwright Joseph Kesselring -- will be accompanied by a reading of McDonald's When Grace Comes, starring Maryann Plunkett, Marian Seldes and Saida Arrika Ekulona. Michael Parva directs.

--By Robert Simonson