Obie Awards, Sans Ceremony, 'Dark Disabled Stories' honor
The Obie Awards, a scrappy but venerable annual competition honoring the best theater performed Off and Off Off Broadway, has named “Dark Disabled Stories,” the autobiographical work of Ryan J. Haddad inspired by his experiences navigating the city with cerebral palsy, chosen as the best new American play.
The prize was announced on Saturday evening, both via press release and on Spectrum News NY1as the American theater wingthat presents the Obies, decided to forego a costly ceremony — in most non-pandemic years, the Obies were handed out at a drunken and often boisterous party — and instead provide grants of $1,000 to $5,000 directly to the winning artists and art institutions.
“These are unprecedented times, and it's extremely challenging for theater right now, so we absolutely want to celebrate the achievements of Off and Off Off Broadway, but in doing so we want to have the most impact by putting money directly into the pockets of theaters . artists and the companies that create the work,” said Heather A. Hitchens, president and general manager of the Wing. “Everyone loves a party, and maybe one day it will make sense to do so again, but we are not made of money – we are a non-profit organization, so how can we use our resources to create the biggest to be a force for good?”
Founded by the Village Voice in the mid-1950s, The Obies have been on the move for years as the Voice floundered and the pandemic ravaged the theater industry. The Wing, with an artist-led board, has kept the Obies afloat with a combination of in-person and streaming ceremonies.
The Obies proudly have no defined categories or a set number of winners; a jury, this year led by director David Mendizábal and critic Melissa Rose Bernardo, determines how the awards should be structured each season. The awards announced this weekend were for shows that opened Off or Off Off Broadway between September 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023.
The jury awarded two prizes for playwriting. One went to Hansol Jung for “Wolf Play,” about a twice-abandoned adopted boy who responds to his trauma by acting like a wolf and is depicted by a doll; the play was first performed at Soho Rep and then at MCC Theater, in collaboration with Ma-Yi Theater Company. The other playwriting award went to Bruce Norris for “Downstate,” about a group home for men who are registered sex offenders; that play was performed at Playwrights Horizons in a production developed by Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago and the National Theater in London.
'Stories about black people' was presented by the Public Theater and produced by the Bushwick Starr. (In the wake of the pandemic, collaboration has become the norm in nonprofit theater, so many of the winning shows are credited to more than one organization.)
The Obies honored four artists: William Jackson Harper for “Primary Trust,” Marla Mindelle for “Titanique,” Zuleyma Guevara for “Sancocho” and Maryann Plunkett for “Deep Blue Sound,” as well as directors Dustin Wills, Shayok Misha Chowdhury and Faye Driscoll , costume designer Enver Chakartash and lighting designer Barbara Samuels.
Among the other Obie honors: The Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Carole Rothman, the outgoing artistic director of Second Stage, and to Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver, who made theater together as Split Britches. Awards for sustained achievement were presented to artists Shannon Tyo, John Douglas Thompson and K. Todd Freeman, to directors Eric Ting and Pam MacKinnon, and to dots, a set design collective, and Mikaal Sulaiman, a sound designer.
There were a number of other awards, citations and grants; for a complete list see obieawards.com.