A committee of 13 theatre critics selected the six finalists, which were narrowed down from a group of 27 eligible scripts. The three top honors will be announced at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays.

The top play will receive a $25,000 award, while two finalists will be presented with $7,500 each.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award recognizes playwrights whose work has been presented professionally, but not has bowed in New York during the previous year.

Groff's Compulsion arrived Off-Broadway at the Public Theater Feb. 14, and D'Amour's Detroit, which premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, will debut on Broadway this fall under the direction of Tony Award nominee Austin Pendleton.

Also selected are The Good Counselor by Kathryn Grant; The History of Invulnerability by David Bar Katz; Nine Circles by Bill Cain; and Splinters by Emily Schwend. Cain took the Steinberg/ATCA honor in 2010 for Equivocation. "Despite vanishing government support and faltering donations, America's regional theatres have persevered and prevailed as this country’s preeminent crucible for vibrant and important new works," said chairman Wm. F. Hirschman in a statement. "The recommended plays encompass a dizzyingly wide range of styles and themes, produced by a cadre of experienced and novice playwrights who are inarguable proof that theatre remains a vital and relevant art form in the 21st century."

Among the playwrights to be previously recognized are Lanford Wilson, Marsha Norman, August Wilson, Arthur Miller, Mac Wellman, Adrienne Kennedy, Donald Margulies, Lynn Nottage, Moises Kaufman and Craig Lucas.

For further information visit AmericanTheatreCritics.