Rudnick — whose plays include Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and The New Century — will be in town to accept SpeakEasy Stage Company's Founder's Award during the company's annual benefit at the Hyatt Regency Boston Hotel.

In a statement SpeakEasy producing artistic director Paul Daigneault said, "I am proud that the City of Boston has chosen to honor Mr. Rudnick in this way. Mr. Rudnick has earned a special place in SpeakEasy history. Through his work, he has provided us with some of our greatest successes and thus has contributed immeasurably to SpeakEasy's considerable growth over the past eighteen years."

Rudnick's other plays include I Hate Hamlet, Valhalla and Regrets Only. His novels are "Social Disease" and "I'll Take It," both published by Knopf, and his screenplays include "Addams Family Values," "In & Out" and the screen adaptation of "Jeffrey."

SpeakEasy will also honor local director Scott Edmiston at the March 3 event. For more information visit www.bcaonline.org.

* SpeakEasy Stage is a resident theater company at The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), the nonprofit performing and visual arts center whose mission is to "support working artists to create, perform, and exhibit new work; to develop new audiences; and to connect the arts to a broad public."