Ayad Akhtar, an actor, screenwriter and novelist, as well as playwright, has won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play Disgraced (which appears complete in this issue, beginning on page 65). Disgraced has enjoyed acclaimed runs in Chicago, New York and London. A $10,000 purse accompanies the prize. The two finalists for the award were also announced: Rapture, Blister, Burn by Gina Gionfriddo and 4000 Miles by Amy Herzog (the full playscript of which was published in AT April ’12).
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation announced the recipients of this year’s Doris Duke Artist Awards, in the fields of contemporary dance, jazz and theatre. The winners in theatre are Ping Chong, Lisa D’Amour, Stacey Klein, Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper, and John Malpede. The prize includes a multiyear grant of $225,000, up to $25,000 in audience development support, and up to $25,000 in personal reserves.
Stephen Adly Guirgis, Tarell Alvin McCraney, and Naomi Wallace are the drama category winners of the inaugural Donald Windham–Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes, presented by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University. Each playwright will receive $150,000.
The Lark Play Development Center and Playwrights of New York have named Kimber Lee as the recipient of its 2013–14 PoNY Fellowship. Lee will receive more than $100,000 in career support, which includes housing, a living stipend and artistic support at the Lark.
The Herb Alpert Foundation and California Institute of the Arts have announced the six recipients of the 19th Annual Alpert Award in the Arts. Among the mid-career artists who won in the theatre field are Kelly Copper and Pavol Liska, directors of New York City’s Nature Theater of Oklahoma, who received $75,000.
Robert Schenkkan’s play All the Way, about the life and political career of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is the winner of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, which comes with $25,000. The award was announced in April at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky. The two citation winners, who received $7,500 each, are Lucas Hnath for Death Tax and Johnna Adams for Gidion’s Knot (the full playscript of which was published in Dec. ’12).
The first annual Berwin Lee Playwrights Award, dedicated to playwrights who have not been produced on Broadway or the West End, has been bestowed on U.S. recipient Bathsheba Doran and U.K. recipient Lucy Kirkwood. Both will receive a $25,000 commission.
The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis has named its 2013–14 playwriting fellows and core writers, who will in total receive more than $200,000 in awards. One of the fellowships was the Jerome Fellowship, containing $16,000 for each winner, and will be given to Jake Jeppson, Basil Kreimendahl, Sarah Saltwick and Deborah Yarchun.
Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., has announced the winners of its Lotte Lenya Competition, recognizing singer/actors aged 19–32. Douglas Carpenter won the $15,000 first prize, Maren Weinberger won the $10,000 second prize, and Alison Arnopp and Lauren Roesner each won a $7,500 third prize.
Martyna Majok has won the 2013 Smith Prize Commission, and $5,000, to develop an as-yet-untitled play. The prize is given annually to a play focusing on U.S. politics.
Caridad Svich has won the Todd McNerney Playwriting Contest, presented by the College of Charleston School of Arts, for her play Spark. The prize comes with $500 and a play reading at the 2013 Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.
Marco Antonio Rodríguez is the winner of the 2012 Metlife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition, presented by Repertorio Español in New York City. The award is for Rodríguez’s play Barceló con hielo (Barceló on the Rocks). Along with $3,000, Rodríguez will receive a full production of his play in Repertorio’s 2013–14 season.
NYC’s Episcopal Actors’ Guild, in partnership with the American Renaissance Theater Company, has awarded Bill Cosgriff the Thomas Barbour Memorial Playwrights’ Award for his play Rio Rita. The prize comes with $500.
Theatre for Young Audiences USA has awarded its 2013 Ann Shaw Fellowship to teaching artist Bethany Corey, who will be given $3,000 to continue her observership with Australia’s Patch Theatre Company.
The American Theatre Wing will honor director and producer Harold Prince at its annual gala in September in NYC.
The Broadway League, in NYC, announced its annual awards for touring Broadway at its 2013 Spring Road Conference in May. Among the recipients were: Douglas C. Baker for outstanding achievement in presenter management, Charlotte Wilcox for distinguished lifetime service and Tom Bartlett with the George MacPherson Road Award.
The Drama League has selected its 2013 fellows in the Drama League Directors Project for young directors. The recipients include Georgi Georgiev Antiqua, Elizabeth Carlson, Will Detlefsen, Dimitar Ivanov Dimitrov, Vesselin Dimov, Alexandru Mihail, Raphael Massie, Louisa Proske, Jamila Reddy, Samantha Saltzman, Danny Sharron, Jordan Slaveykov, Nicole A. Watson and Lian Walden.
In August, the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire will award Stephen Sondheim the 54th Edward MacDowell Medal. Sondheim will be the first composer/lyricist to win the prize.
Director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell, a favorite in the 2013 Tony Awards for his direction and choreography for Kinky Boots, was presented with the “Mr. Abbott” Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, in recognition of his 30-year career.
Timothy Hartung was awarded the 2013 USITT Distinguished Achievement Award in Architecture, at the 2013 Annual Conference & Stage Expo in March, hosted by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. Hartung is the founding partner of Ennead Architects LLP.
The League of Professional Theatre Women in NYC held its awards luncheon in June, where Peggy Eisenhauer won the Ruth Morley Design Award, Judith Malina won the Lifetime Achievement Award, Mia Katigbak won the Lucille Lortel Award and Ashley Marinaccio won the Lucille Lortel Women’s Visionary Award.
Rhode Island’s Trinity Repertory Company held its 17th annual awards celebration in June, recognizing John Krasinski (Pell Award for distinguished achievement in the arts), Kate Burton (Pell Award for lifetime achievement), Tony Estrella (Pell Award for excellence), Joseph A. Chazan (Pell Award for outstanding leadership) and Martha Douglas-Osmundson (Charles Sullivan Award for distinguished service in the arts).
The August Wilson Center has named its six 2012–13 fellows, who span the disciplines of visual arts and theatre. In the latter field are Joshua Wilder and Nathan James, who will have access to the center’s resources for one year to develop and present their work, and to assist in career advancement.
Annaleigh Ashford and Michael Urie were both presented with the Clarence Derwent Award in June, for most promising female and male performer, respectively, in the New York theatre scene. The prize was given by Actors’ Equity.
Mickey McNany, the theatre school director at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse, has received the New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education and the Education in the Arts Award, for her work in the playhouse’s Theater for Everyone initiative, which includes programming for children with autism.
Five Los Angeles teachers have been selected for Center Theatre Group’s 2013 Theatre Educator Fellowship program, for educators who utilize theatre in their teaching practices. The fellows are Melissa Weber Bales, Juan Carillo, David Levine, Elizabeth Rubino and Alicia Wollerton.
Des McAnuff was invested into the Order of Canada in a ceremony in May for his lifetime of theatrical achievement. The title is the country’s highest civilian honor.
Michael Kahn, artistic director of Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., was inducted in April as an Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
The Edwin Booth Award was presented in May to Woody King Jr., founding director of New Federal Theatre in New York. Given by the Doctoral Theatre Students Association, the award recognizes a person, organization or company who has significantly contributed to the New York City performance community.
Dallas Theater Center has named its 2012–13 Project Discovery Distinguished Educator of the Year: Michael Holloman, director of theatre at R.L. Turner High School.
