10th Annual Mimi Awards to Celebrate Top American Playwrights This December

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust today announced that the 10th-Annual "Mimi" Awards will be presented on Monday, December 4, 2017, at Lincoln Center Theater. The "Mimi" Awards are presented annually to honor the outstanding artistry and accomplishments of some of the most gifted American Playwrights.

The Steinberg Playwright Awards will celebrate two playwrights in early and middle stages of their careers, who have distinctive and compelling voices, and whose current bodies of work exhibit exceptional talent and artistic excellence. The awards celebrate the accomplishments of some of the most gifted up-and-coming American Playwrights and honor the promise they hold for the future of American theater. Each recipient will receive a cash award of $50,000. This year's honorees will be announced in September.

The Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award and Steinberg Playwright Awards are presented in alternate years. Past recipients include:

· Sarah Ruhl, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, 2016

· Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Dominique Morisseau, Steinberg Playwright Awards, 2015

· Stephen Adly Guirgis, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, 2014

· Annie Baker and Rajiv Joseph, Steinberg Playwright Awards, 2013

· David Henry Hwang, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, 2012

· Lisa D'Amour and Melissa James Gibson, Steinberg Playwright Awards, 2011

· Lynn Nottage, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, 2010

· David Adjmi, Tarell Alvin McCraney and Bruce Norris, Steinberg Playwright Awards, 2009

· Tony Kushner, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, 2008

Along with a monetary award, playwrights receive "The Mimi," a statuette designed by David Rockwell, Tony Award-nominated scenic designer and architect.

In 2008, the Board of Directors created an advisory committee of prominent theater professionals to establish the awards criteria, nominate individual candidates and select each recipient. The 2017 Advisory Committee is comprised of Paige Evans, Artistic Director, Signature Theatre Company; Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Manhattan Theatre Club; Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Second Stage Theatre; Molly Smith, Artistic Director, Arena Stage; Kent Thompson, Theatre Director, Producer & Author; Les Waters, Artistic Director, Actors Theatre of Louisville; and Chay Yew, Artistic Director, Victory Gardens Theater.

The Board of Directors of The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust is made up of Carole A. Krumland, James D. Steinberg, Michael A. Steinberg, Seth M. Weingarten, and William D. Zabel.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust was created by Harold Steinberg in 1986 in his name and the name of his late wife, Miriam. The Trust's primary mission is to support and promote the American theater as a vital part of our culture by nurturing American Playwrights, encouraging the development and production of new American plays, and providing significant support to not-for-profit theater companies across the country.

Since its inception, the Trust has given more than $80 million to more than a hundred not-for-profit theater organizations. These gifts have funded countless productions, as well as the commissioning of playwrights, playwriting programs and arts-in-education outreach programs for thousands of children in an effort to create and educate new generations of theatergoers.

The Trust also collaborated with the American Theater Critics Association to create and fund the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award. That award is presented annually during the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theater of Louisville. Recipients of this award include Michael Cristofer, Qui Nguyen, Rebecca Gilman, Lauren Gunderson, Robert Schenkkan, Yussef El Guindi, Bill Cain, E.M. Lewis, Moises Kaufman, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Lee Blessing, Craig Lucas, Lynn Nottage, Nilo Cruz, Horton Foote, Jane Martin and ReGina Taylor.