The nation's oldest non-profit workshop "dedicated to the development of new playwrights" will honor Streep with its 2004 Career Achievement Award at a ceremony held at the New York Marriott Marquis.

Streep, who is part of the producing team of Sarah Jones' bridge and tunnel, recently won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the HBO's epic TV production of "Angels in America." Tony Kushner, who penned "Angels," will be on hand at the luncheon to offer a tribute to one of the country's premiere actresses. Kevin Kline, who co-starred with Streep in "Sophie's Choice," will present the actress with her award.

The annual luncheon salutes an artist who has made an "outstanding artistic contribution to the American theatre." Past honorees include Barbara Cook, Angela Lansbury, Julie Andrews, Glenn Close, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Neil Simon, Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim, Gwen Verdon, Terrence McNally and Arthur Miller. Playwright August Wilson was feted last season.

Meryl Streep won Academy Awards for her performances in "Sophie's Choice" and "Kramer vs. Kramer." She was also Oscar-nominated for her work in "Adaptation," "Music of the Heart," "One True Thing," "The Bridges of Madison County," "Postcards from the Edge," "A Cry in the Dark," "Ironweed," "Out of Africa," "Silkwood," "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "The Deer Hunter." Streep received a Tony nomination for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, and her other Broadway appearances include Happy End, The Cherry Orchard, Secret Service and Trelawny of the "Wells".

The 55th Annual Benefit Luncheon will be held in the Broadway Ballroom of the New York Marriott Marquis, located in New York at 1535 Broadway. The champagne reception begins at 11:15 AM, and the proceedings will end at 2:30 PM. Tickets, priced at $200, are available by calling (212) 757-6960, ext. 13. Founded in 1949 by Michaela O’Harra in association with Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Moss Hart, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, New Dramatists has fostered the works of Paula Vogel, August Wilson, William Inge, Paddy Chayefsky, John Guare, John Patrick Shanley, Emily Mann and Suzan-Lori Parks. New Dramatists was the recipient of a special Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre in 2001, and its playwrights have garnered 12 Pulitzers, 22 Tony Awards, 59 Obie Awards and 17 New York Drama Critics Circle Awards.