Three critics have won this year's George Jean Nathan Award for dramatic criticism, the best-known of whom is Ben Brantley, chief critic of the New York Times. Brantley started at the Times in 1993 and graduated to head critic June 1996.
As reported by Reuters, Brantley shares the Nathan honors with freelancers Elinor Fuchs and Todd London. The former is a scholar, honored for her book about the avant-garde, The Death Of Character. The latter, a writer and teacher and former artistic director of New Dramatists, won for the American Theatre article, "Mamet vs. Mamet."
All three critics will split the $10,000 prize, named for critic George Jean Nathan, who joined the New York Herald in 1905. He was a key figure in promoting Eugene O'Neill and Sean O'Casey.
Previous Nathan Award winners include Eric Bentley, Robert Brustein and Robert Hurwitt.
-- By David Lefkowitz
