Photo Flash: The Dramatists Guild Fund Awards Linda Lavin and Lynn Nottage the Madge Evans-Sidney Kingsley Award

The Dramatists Guild Fund presented their Madge Evans and Sidney Kingsley Award to actress Linda Lavin and playwright Lynn Nottage this past Monday evening. The awards were presented by Dramatists Guild Fund Board Member Terrence McNally at an intimate salon with award-winning composer Charles Strouse. BroadwayWorld has a photo of the honorees below!

The event included remarks by Jeffrey Lyons, godson of Sidney Kingsley, and was held at the home of lyricist and playwright Gretchen Cryer. Special guests in attendance included City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Charlayne Woodard, Carol Hall, Joan Firestone, Alan H. Green, and Peter Ratray.

The Madge Evans-Sidney Kingsley Award is an award given to one playwright and one actress for their outstanding achievement in the theater. The $15,000 award is given on the basis of each winner's body of work in the American theater.

Linda Lavin won a Tony Award for her performance in Broadway Bound in 1987, as well as Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Helen Hayes awards. Last season, she was nominated for the Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for her performance in The Lyons, going on to receive the Village Voice Obie award for her portrayal of Rita Lyons in Nicky Silver's comedy. Her previous Tony nominations were for The Last of The Red Hot Lovers, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Tale of The Allergist's Wife and Collected Stories. She is a three-time winner of the Drama Desk Award and two-time Golden Globe winner for her role as Alice on the TV show "Alice." Her numerous film appearances include the recent Wanderlust and last year she released her first CD, "Possibilities," an album of Broadway and jazz standards (Sh-K-Boom label). She frequently tours her concert act with musical director Billy Stritch.

Lynn Nottage's new play, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre (Lily Award, Drama Desk Nomination). It can be seen this upcoming season at Lyric Stage and The Goodman Theatre. Her Pulitzer prize-winning play Ruined premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club and Goodman Theatre (OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics' Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play). It subsequently toured widely throughout US regional theatres and premiered internationally at The Almeida Theatre in London. The play has since been produced in countries throughout the world, including Cambodia, Chad, The Caribbean, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Germany. Her other plays include Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best Play); Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (OBIE Award); Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por'knockers and POOF!.

Previous Madge Evans-Sidney Kingsley Award actress recipients include Cherry Jones, Frances Sternhagen, Kathleen Chalfant, Marian Seldes, Julie Harris, Uta Hagen, Elizabeth Franz, Judith Ivey, Ruby Dee, Lois Smith, Laura Linney, and Estelle Parsons. Past playwright recipients of the Kingsley Award include Tina Howe, Christopher Durang, Donald Margulies, Romulus Linney, John Guare, August Wilson, Terrence McNally, Edward Albee, Marsha Norman, John Patrick Shanley, and David Ives.

The Dramatists Guild Fund is the public charity arm of the Dramatists Guild of America. Its mission is to aid and nurture writers for the theater; to fund non-profit theaters producing contemporary American works; and to heighten awareness, appreciation, and support of theater across the country. The Dramatists Guild Fund depends heavily on individual contributions from theater enthusiasts across the country in order to carry out its mission. Each year, the Fund provides grants to non-profit theatrical organizations across the country that produce works by American writers. A limited number of grants are also allotted to deserving writers for the theater who have fallen upon hard times due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances. In January of 2008, the Dramatists Guild Fund was re-classified as a 501(c)3 public charity, enabling it to expand its reach through new initiatives such as The Legacy Project, the Traveling Masters program, and the preservation the Dramatists Guild Archives.

Based in New York, the Dramatists Guild of America has a long history of service to playwrights, lyricists, librettists and composers for the theater. Since its inception, the Dramatists Guild membership has included a broad cross-section of writers for the American stage, including legendary talents whose names are synonymous with Broadway, Off-Broadway and American Theater. To learn more about the Guild or to become a member, visit www.dramatistsguild.com.

Photo Credit: Monica Simoes