The American Theatre Critics Association has presented the annual Steinberg honor for "outstanding new plays produced around the United States, outside of New York City" placing a focus on regional works not often included in the numerous New York based awards. The prize includes the highest American playwriting cash award of $15,000. Two additional citation recipients are given cash prizes of $5,000 each. All prizes are funded by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
The six finalists (and the regional theatre at which they were first produced) are:
Last year's winner of the Steinberg New Play Award was Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel with the two other citations going to August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean and Carson Kreitzer's The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Other recent recipients of the honor include Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics (2003), Horton Foote's The Carpetbaggers Children (2002), Jane Martin's Anton In Show Business (2001), Regina Taylor's Oo-Bla-Dee (2000) and Lanford Wilson's Book of Days (1999).
For more information on the American Theatre Critics Association, visit www.americantheatrecritics.org.