WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.: Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced that Abe Koogler’s Kill Floor is the winner of the 2014 L. Arnold Weissberger Award. The play, which will premiere at Lincoln Center Theater’s LCT3 this fall, will be introduced to audiences at a reading on the festival’s Nikos Stage on Aug. 7. Lila Neugebauer will direct both the reading and LCT3 production.
WTF administers the award on behalf of the Anna L. Weissberger Foundation. Championed for the festival in 1998 by late Trustee Jay Harris, the award honors noted theatrical attorney and avid theatre supporter L. Arnold Weissberger, and it is designed to recognize excellence in playwriting. The recipient of the award receives a $10,000 grant for the winning play, a reading at the festival and optional publication by Samuel French. The 2014 finalist judges were Evan Cabnet, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Amy Holzapfel, Matthew Lopez, and Jessica Stone.
It was also announced that beginning next year, recipients of the Weissberger Award will receive an additional $10,000 commission, the Jay Harris Commission, to write a new play. WTF is currently accepting submissions for the 2015 L. Arnold Weissberger Award. Nominations are solicited by invitation only.
