Playwright Coby Goss is being honored with the M. Elizabeth Osborn Award from the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA), for the play, Marked Tree, produced in 1999 by Seanachai Theatre in Chicago.
ATCA gives the award annually to an emerging playwright chosen by the ATCA New Plays Committee.
The award will be presented March 31 at the Humana Festival for New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Goss will receive a $500 cash grant, travel expenses and a commemorative plaque.
The Osborn Award was established in 1993 to honor the memory of a distinguished author, script editor and mentor to playwrights. The award is designed to recognize a play by a writer whose work has not received a major production and who has not otherwise attained national recognition or awards.
ATCA also announced six finalists for the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award. With support from the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the top honoree will receive a $15,000 cash award and a commemorative plaque. In addition, two other finalists will receive citations and cash grants in the amount of $5,000 each. The top award and citations will be presented April 1 at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. The finalists are:
The Adventures of Herculina by Kira Obolensky (Next Theatre in Evanston, IL.);
Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher (City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh);
Oo-Bla-Dee by Regina Taylor (Goodman Theatre in Chicago);
Sockdology by Jeffrey Hatcher (Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, Ala.);
Syncopation by Allan Knee (George Street Playhouse in NJ and Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT);
Wonderland by Chay Yew (La Jolla Playhouse in California).
The New Play Award was introduced in 1977. Finalists are selected by a committee of nine theatre critics from around the United States who evaluate scripts recommended by ATCA members.
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The American Theater Critics Association works to raise professional critical standards and public awareness of critics' functions and responsibilities. The only national association of professional theatre critics, ATCA has several hundred members working for newspapers, magazines, radio and television across the U.S.
-- By Kenneth Jones
