BLACK EYED SUSAN
2017 RUTH MALECZECH AWARD
a performer who embodies Ruth’s daring and raw, naked fearlessness
BLACK EYED SUSAN was a founding member of Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company. With the company she created a wide range of characters—Tsu-Hsi, the last empress of China, in Eunuchs of the Forbidden City; Olympe deTaverny in Camille; Ramona Malone in Hot Ice; Ophelia in Stage Blood; Zuni Feinschmecker in Caprice; Phyllis in Utopia Incorporated; Princess Eulalie-Irene in The Enchanged Pig; Eleanor in Reverse Psychology; Sylvia Woodward in Love’s Tangled Web; Barbara Bendix in Exquisite Torture; Hure von Hoyden in Galas; Roxanne Nurdiger in The Artificial Jungle; and both the nurse and the title role in Medea. She has also collaborated with Jim Neu, Mabou Mines, Ethyl Eichelberger, Sheila Callaghan, and John Jesurun with recent appearances in Liz One (2009), and Stopped Bridge of Dreams (2012). From 2006 to 2009, she collaborated with Mallory Catlett on Red Fly/Blue Bottle, and more recently, on This is The End (2014). Her Film work includes Ironweed, Black Maria, and Stuart Sherman’s A Portrait of an Actress. Black-Eyed Susan received a Villager Awards for Outstanding Performance (1987) and an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance (1987).
“I’ve always admired Mabou Mines’ work since the first time I saw them many years ago. The company was trying to do things from a different point of view and Ruth was always at the forefront of it all, pushing forward. It’s an honor to be receiving this award.”