Christina Anderson Wins 2023 Steinberg/ATCA Award for THE RIPPLE, THE WAVE THAT CARRIED ME HOME

Playwright Christina Anderson has won the 2023 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for her play the ripple, the wave that carried me home.

The Steinberg/ATCA Award, which carries a $25,000 cash prize, recognizes an outstanding script that premiered in a professional production outside of New York City in 2022. Anderson's play, which examines a daughter's reckoning with her family's legacy of political activism, debuted at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, Calif., in September 2022. It was produced in association with The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, where it was staged earlier this year.

Two 2022 Steinberg/ATCA citations were also presented to Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks, produced by the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and Swing State by Rebecca Gilman, produced by The Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Each citation carries a $7500 cash prize.

The 2023 awards were presented on Saturday, May 6, in Costa Mesa, Calif., as part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. ATCA thanks South Coast Repertory for generously hosting the presentation.

With an annual prize total of $40,000, Steinberg/ATCA is one of the largest national new play award programs. ATCA began honoring new plays produced at regional theaters outside New York City in 1977, and the awards have been funded by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust since 2000. Plays receiving a production in New York City during the award cycle are not eligible for the Steinberg/ATCA award, recognizing the many other awards programs already in existence there.

At the ceremony, ATCA also presented the 2023 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award to Madison Fiedler for her play Spay, premiered by the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago. Named for the late critic, new play advocate and ATCA member Betty Osborn (1941-1993), the award recognizes the work of an emerging playwright who has not yet received a major New York production or a major national award. The Osborn Award carries a $3000 prize.

The recipients were selected from a pool of eligible scripts recommended by ATCA members from around the country. Misha Berson (Seattle, WA) and Cameron Kelsall (Philadelphia, PA) served as co-chairs of the ATCA New Play Committee during the adjudication process. Other participating members included Nancy Bishop (Chicago, IL), Lindsay Christians (Madison, WI), Evans Donnell (Nashville, TN), Mike Fischer (Milwaukee, WI), Amanda Finn (Chicago, IL), Lou Harry (Indianapolis, IN), Susan Haubenstock (Richmond, VA), Ed Huyck (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN), Wendy Parker (Midlothian, VA), Martha Wade Steketee (New York, NY), Doug Strassler (New York, NY), Perry Tannenbaum (Charlotte, NC), Karen Topham (Chicago, IL) and Bob Verini (Boston, MA).

Past honorees of ATCA's new play award include August Wilson, Horton Foote, Lynn Nottage, Moises Kaufmann, Lee Blessing, Marsha Norman, Nilo Cruz, Regina Taylor, Qui Nguyen, Lauren Yee, Michael Cristofer, and Rebecca Gilman. A complete list of recipients can be found here.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg on behalf of himself and his late wife. Pursuing its primary mission to support the American theater, it has provided grants totaling millions of dollars for new productions of American plays and educational programs for those who may not ordinarily experience live theater.