The Harold And Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust To Present 2020 Steinberg Playwright Awards

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust today announced that the annual Steinberg Playwright Awards will look a little different this year. In response to this anomalous year, and in an effort to better meet the immediate and pressing needs of the field of playwriting, the Trust is has announced that it will celebrate the work of 20 outstanding early-to-mid-career playwrights with 2020 Steinberg Playwright Awards in the amount of $10,000 each. This year's award recipients will be announced on December 21st, 2020.

In a normal year, the Trust would be celebrating a master playwright with the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, which comes with a $200,000 cash award. However, given the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the theater community and its artists, the Trust felt it was vital to shift those funds to provide impactful support to as many playwrights as possible. While the number of recipients and the size of the awards have changed, the spirit and intention of the Steinberg Playwright Awards remains the same: to celebrate, encourage, and spotlight exceptional playwriting.

The "Mimi" Awards are presented annually to playwrights in early and middle stages of their careers who have distinctive and compelling voices, and whose work exhibits 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.

2008, the Board of Directors created an advisory committee of seven prominent theater professionals to establish the awards criteria, nominate individual candidates, and select recipients. However, in this unique year the Trust has brought together ten current and former advisory committee members to select this group of talented playwrights.

The 2020 Advisory Committee is comprised of P. Carl, Senior Distinguished Artist-In-Residence, Emerson College; Jeremy B. Cohen, Producing Artistic Director, Playwrights' Center; Snehal Desai, Artistic Director, East West Players; Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director, The Public Theater; Maria Manuela Goyanes, Artistic Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co.; Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director, Young Vic Theatre; Sarah Lunnie, Dramaturg; Neil Pepe, Artistic Director, Atlantic Theater Company; Hana S. Sharif, Artistic Director, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; and Chay Yew, Director.

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