2013 Otto René Castillo Awards For Political Theatre Announced

On Monday, March 11, 2013 at the Castillo Theatre in New York City, members of the Awards Committee of the Otto René Castillo Awards for Political Theatre gathered for the announcement of the 2013 Otto Award honorees. The 15th annual awards celebration will be held on May 19, 2013 at 2:00 pm at the Castillo Theatre.

Castillo artistic director Dan Friedman announced this year's four awardees:

Spiderwoman Theater, founded in 1976, Spiderwoman is an indigenous woman's theatre collective that creates environments in which the native, women's and arts communities come together to examine their social, cultural and political concerns. Spiderwoman has broken new ground in weaving storytelling into theatre and has developed as a powerful international voice for indigenous woman.

Siti Company, founded in 1992 by Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki, is dedicated to ensemble building and international cultural exchange and collaboration. One of the most influential experimental theatres in the world, SITI is known for its unique actor training which brings together Viewpoints and the Suzuki Method.

The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, founded in 1993 in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, works with young people in low-income areas of Los Angeles, offering intensive theatre workshops designed to help participants develop self-esteem, communication and coping skills.

Richard Wesley became a force in the Black Theatre movement with the production of his play Black Terror at the New York Shakespeare Company in 1971, for which he went on to win the Drama Desk Award. In addition to his plays, Wesley has also written numerous screenplays and teleplays. Wesley is currently the chair of the Rita and Burton Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Present for the announcement were past Otto honorees, Woodie King, Jr. (1998), Mario Fratti (2000), Grace Jones (2012), and Brad Burgess of the Living Theatre (1998).

The Otto Awards (executive producer: Diane Stiles) were founded in 1998 to recognize, support and connect theatre companies and artists engaged in creating political, experimental and community-based theatre. They have been awarded to 88 theatres and individual theatre artists from the United States, Austria, Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Pakistan, Serbia and the United Kingdom.

The Castillo Theatre (artistic director: Dan Friedman) is located at 543 West 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues, New York, NY, 10036. For additional information about the 2013 Otto René Castillo Awards for Political Theatre, please contact Gail Peck at 212.356.8449 or gpeck@allstars.org.