NEW YORK CITY: The Williamstown Theatre Festival has named Mike Lew the 2022 L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award winner for his play tiny father. He will receive the $10,000 award as well as the accompanying $10,000 Jay Harris Commission to write a new play.
Introduced to the festival in 1998 by late trustee Jay Harris in honor of theatrical attorney L. Arnold Weissberger and presented on behalf of the Anna L. Weissberger Foundation, the award recognizes excellence in playwriting.
Mike Lew is a Chinese American playwright known for his works Teenage Dick and Tiger Style!. His play tiny father, originally commissioned by Audible, is a slice-of-life comedy based on personal experience that tells the story of an unattached freelancer who unexpectedly becomes the father of a months-premature baby on life support at the NICU. Lew and his wife Rehana Lew Mirza are Mellon Foundation Playwrights in Residence at Ma-Yi Theatre Company, where they co-wrote The Colonialism Trilogy. They also wrote the book to the musical Bhangin’ It with songs by Sam Willmot.
The other finalists for the award were Amani by a.k. payne, Bust by Zora Howard, Dhaba on Devon Avenue by Madhuri Shekar, and Nick & the Prizefighter by Kamilah Bush. The 2022 finalist judges were Eric Berryman, John McGinty, and Jen SIlverman.
Held since 1955, Williamstown Theatre Festival is an annual summer festival in the Berkshires dedicated to producing distinctive plays that engage a diverse community, while providing artistic opportunities, training, and mentorship.
