SDCF Unveils Abe Burrows Award for Assistant Directors Awardees

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Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation has revealed the awardees for the inaugural year of the Abe Burrows Award for Assistant Directors. Established by the James and Deborah Burrows Foundation and supported by a generous matching contribution from Thomas Kail, the award will be given to two early career directors, Violeta Picayo and Sharifa Essa Yasmin, each of whom will receive an unrestricted $10,000 award.  The Abe Burrows Award is given annually to a director or director/choreographer who is working as an assistant director. The award will allow the recipients to fully focus on their work as an assistant director to an SDC Member between June 2024 and December 2025.

The award honors Abe Burrows, a Tony Award-winning director who cared deeply about fostering and supporting the next generation of directors. As a director and writer, Burrows is known for his work on How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, for which he won Tony Awards for Best Director, Best Book, and Best Musical, as well as the Pulitzer Prize with his collaborator Frank Loesser.  His additional Broadway credits include Guys and Dolls and Can-Can.

The Abe Burrows Award for Assistant Directors recipients are:

Violeta Picayo is a bilingual Cuban-American director/choreographer and actor. She makes theatre to ask questions together, and create spaces where wondering is a full-body activity. Violeta has directed world-premiere productions including Helen. (SuperGeographics, En Garde Arts, La MaMa), and The Strangers Came Today (Society, New Ohio). Works-in-development: Her Sleeping Nation by Emily Zemba, Pack Animals by Caitlin George, Care & Keeping by Emily Breeze. She has worked at NYC venues including La MaMa, BAM, The Public, Second Stage, Gym at Judson, New Ohio; regionally throughout the U.S. at the American Repertory Theater, Portland Center Stage, Fisher Center, City Theatre; and internationally in Argentina, Chile, England, Greece, India, and Scotland. Violeta is a company member of The SuperGeographics and an associate artist of SITI Company. She is a proud graduate of Vassar College, the National Theater Institute, and SITI Company's Conservatory.

Sharifa Yasmin (she/her) is a trans Arab-American director, actor, and playwright. She has completed directing fellowships with The Drama League, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Manhattan Theatre Club, Geva Theatre, and was a Eugene O'Neill national directing fellow. Yasmin's playwriting focuses on the intersection of Queer and Arab identities. Her plays have been published in Overheard:Fourteen Commissioned Monologues Written by TNB2S+ Artists for TNB2S+ Artists and The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays. Her play Close to Home was distinguished by the American Theatre Wing at the annual Antoinette Gala, and was recently included on the 2023 Kilroy's List. Yasmin was also honored as the inaugural recipient of the SCDF Barbara Whitman Award in 2021, and holds a MFA in Directing from Brown/Trinity Rep. www.sharifayasmin.com