Playwrights Jackie Sibblies Drury and Lauren Yee were honored at the 2019 Steinberg Playwright Awards, presented January 13. The two are the recipients of the award from the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, whose past recipients include Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Lucas Hnath, and Dominique Morisseau, and which comes with a cash prize of $50,000.
“I am so honored by this prize; it’s an awe inspiring list of playwrights to be among! I’m so grateful to the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for strengthening our theatrical ecosystem by supporting a diverse variety of artists and theaters, and thankful to the committee for their consideration,” said Drury in a statement.
“Playwrights create the blueprints for worlds shaded in and populated by a village of collaborators. That village includes supporters like Steinberg. The Trust has had a huge impact on my work and career, both through this award and through its support of America's regional theaters. This prize deepens that relationship and focuses me on the work that I might do in the future,” said Yee.
The Distinguished Playwright Award and Steinberg Playwright Awards are presented in alternating years to recognize established playwrights whose body of work has made significant contributions to the American theatre, as well as up-and-coming American playwrights and the promise they hold for the future of American theatre. Last year, the Distinguished Playwright Award was awarded to Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks.
