2013 VILLAGE VOICE OBIE AWARDS
Amid shock at the furlough of its lead critic,
Michael Feingold, the day before, The 58th Annual Village Voice
Obie Awards, celebrating achievement in the Off-Broadway and off-off
Broadway theater, were given out at a ceremony last night at Webster
Hall in Greenwich Village. Published
reports described the evening as marked by heartfelt testimponials
to Feingold who, while out of a job, soldiered on as emcee of
the event.
The other "face" of the Obies, theater
editor Brian Parks, had been dropped by the Voice as of Labor
Day.
With the Off-Broadway and Downtown Theater community
holding its collective breath at the fate of the paper, which
was historically a powerful arbiter of taste in that sector, the
awards went on, co-hosted by Jessica Hecht
and Jeremy Shamos. 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 Critc 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.
