Honolulu Theatre for Youth Receives 2022 CFTA Corey Medallion Award

Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY) has been awarded the prestigious 2022 CTFA Corey Medallion. The award is presented by the Childrenʻs Theatre Foundation of America (CTFA) and honors recipients for their significant achievements for the enrichment of children in the United States and Canada through nurturing artistic work in theatre and others who are making significant strides in, for and through Theatre for Youth.

Founded in 1958, CFTA provides support to organizations and individual artists; bestowing awards on established artists recognizing a lifetime of service, and to new artists and organizations leading the TYA field into its future. The Medallion Award was established in 1992 and renamed the CTFA Corey Medallion Award in 2010 in honor of Orlin Coreyʻs thirty-four years of service and leadership on the board of the Children's Theatre Foundation. Orlin Corey was an award winning director, producer, and publisher of theatre whose work was seen around the globe.

HTY joins the list of notable organizations and artists who have received the award, including current CFTA board president and acclaimed playwright, Susan Zeder. In the early 2010's, under the leadership of Artistic Director Eric Johnson, HTY began to pivot its programming. No longer content to follow the general field in book adaptations and popular titles, HTY began to truly, thoughtfully explore what it meant to be a theatre in and of and for its community. The company started commissioning and developing plays and entire seasons that specifically drew from or reflected the cultures that make up modern Hawai'i - folklore, history, and "issues that impacted local kids."

"To be honored by our national peers with such an award is deeply meaningful for our entire organization and speaks to the quality of our current staff, but also to the generations of artists, educators and administrators who have committed themselves to this work. We share this honor with the thousands of volunteers, donors, teachers and families who are both the backbone of our organization and inspiration for our work."--Eric Johnson, HTY Artistic Director

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Honolulu Theatre for Youth