2013 Village Voice Obie Award Winners Announced

NEW YORK, May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The 58th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards, celebrating achievement in the Off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theater, were given out at a ceremony tonight at Webster Hall in Greenwich Village. The awards ceremony was co-hosted by Jessica Hecht and Jeremy Shamos. The awards were presented by Bobby Cannavale, Tracee Chimo, Cyndi Lauper, Judith Light, Krysta Rodriguez, Duncan Sheik, Meryl Streep and Courtney B. Vance.

A medley from the highly acclaimed new Off-Broadway musical, Here Lies Love, was performed by the cast. The Brazilian jazz-pop group Banda Magda also performed.

The Obies were judged by a committee that included the Voice's Chief Theater Critic Michael Feingold as Chairman, Voice critic Alexis Soloski as secretary, and the following guest judges: Obie Award-winning playwright Erin Courtney; director-performer Mia Katigbak, Co-Founder of NAATCO; critic and Theater magazine editor Tom Sellar; and Obie Award-winning director Leigh Silverman.

Meryl Streep presented 2013 Obie Awards for Lifetime Achievement to Lois Smith and Frances Sternhagen.

In a tie vote, the judges accorded the award for Best New American Play to Lisa d'Amour's Detroit (Playwrights Horizons) and Julia Jarcho's Grimly Handsome (Incubator Arts Project), with each playwright receiving a $500 cash prize.

A complete list of the award winners follows:

Performance
Eisa Davis
Sustained Excellence  

Brandon J. Dirden
The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre) 

Shuler Hensley
The Whale (Playwrights Horizons)      

Matthew Maher
Sustained Excellence

Paul Thureen
Blood Play (The Debate Society/Bushwick Starr)

Playwriting
Ayad Akhtar
Disgraced  (LCT3)     

Annie Baker
The Flick  (Playwrights Horizons)       

Direction
Lear deBessonet
The Good Person Of  Szechuan (Foundry Theatre/La MaMa)

John Rando
All In The Timing (Primary Stages)      

Ruben Santiago-Hudson
The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre)

Eric Ting
We Are Proud To Present A Presentation... (Soho Rep) 

Design
Laura Jellinek
Sustained excellence of Set Design

Clint Ramos
Sustained excellence of Costume Design        

Special Citations
David Levine and Marsha Ginsberg
HABIT (Crossing the Line Festival/FIAF & PS122)

Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin
NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Ars Nova)     

Nature Theater of Oklahoma           
LIFE AND TIMES: EPISODES 1-4  (Public Theater/SoRep)

Music/Lyrics
David Byrne & Fatboy Slim
HERE LIES LOVE (Public Theater)     

The Ross Wetzsteon Award (with check for $1000.)
Clubbed Thumb

Grants
Fulcrum Theater ($1,000)
Half Straddle ($1,000) 

Best New American Play (tie w/$500. to each playwright)
Lisa D'Amour, Detroit
Julia Jarcho, Grimly Handsome

Lifetime Achievement
Lois Smith
Frances Sternhagen

The Village Voice Obie Awards are presented by STELLA ARTOIS and benefiting A.R.T./ New York (Alliance of Residence Theaters). Additional sponsors include Smirnoff Sorbet Light, Academy of Dramatic Arts, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and Fragoli.

Congratulations to all of this years winners!

For more information, please visit: obies.villagevoice.com/2013 

SOURCE Voice Media Group

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED