Obie Award Winners Announced

The winners of the 64th annual Obie Awards were announced last night at Terminal 5, a concert venue in Manhattan. Sponsored by the American Theatre Wing and the online publication The Village Voice, the awards honor achievement in the Off-Broadway theatre.

The design winners included Dede M. Ayite, for sustained excellence in costume design; Isabella Byrd, for the lighting of Caryl Churchill's Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, produced at New York Theatre Workshop; Palmer Hefferan, for sustained excellence in sound design; Cookie Jordan, for sustained excellence in hair, wig, and makeup design; Clint Ramos, for the immersive set design of Wild Goose Dreams at the Public Theater; and Louisa Thompson for sustained excellence in scenic design.

The award for best new American play, which comes with a $1,000 prize, went to Heidi Schreck for What the Constitution Means to Me, produced first at New York Theatre Workshop and now on Broadway, where it is a contender for Tony Awards.

Other winners included:

Playwriting
Marcus Gardley, The House That Will Not Stand (New York Theatre Workshop)
Madeleine George, Hurricane Diane (New York Theatre Workshop)
Suzan-Lori Parks, White Noise (The Public Theater)

Directing
Jo Bonney, Sustained Excellence in Directing
Leigh Silverman, Sustained Excellence in Directing
Stevie Walker Webb, Ain't No Mo' (The Public Theater)

Performance
Mia Barron, Hurricane Diane (New York Theatre Workshop)
Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Sustained Excellence in Performance
Cherise Boothe, Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Signature Theatre Company)
Francis Jue, Wild Goose Dreams (The Public Theater)
Heather Alicia Simms, Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Signature Theatre Company) and By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Signature Theatre Company)

Special Citations
Clare Barron (playwright) and Lee Sunday Evans (director), Dance Nation (Playwrights Horizons)
Jordan E. Cooper for playwrighting and performance, Ain't No Mo' (The Public Theater)
Jackie Sibblies Drury (playwright) and Lileana Blain Cruz (Ddirector), Marys Seacole (LCT3)
The cast and creative team, The Jungle (St. Ann's Warehouse); Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson (playwrights), Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin (directors), Miriam Buether (set design), Catherine Kodicek (costume design), Jon Clark (lighting design), Paul Arditti (sound design), John Pfumojena (composition), Tristan Shepherd and Duncan McLean (video design); Mohammad Amiri, Alexander Devrient, Elham Ehsas, Trevor Fox, Milan Ghobsheh, Ammar Haj Ahmad, Alex Lawther, Jo McInnes, Yasin Moradi, Jonathan Nyati, John Pfumojena, Rachel Redford, Dominic Rowan, Rachid Sabitri, Mohamed Sarrar, Ben Turner, Nahel Tzegai, Vera Gurpinar, Annika Mehta (ensemble)
The director and creative team, Oklahoma! (St. Ann's Warehouse); Daniel Fish (director), John Heginbotham (choreographer), Daniel Kluger (music arrangements/orchestrations), Laura Jellinek (set design), Terese Wadden (costume design), Scott Zielinski (lighting design), Drew Levy (sound design), Joshua Thorson (production design)

In addition, Obie grants, worth $4,000 each, went to The Movement Theatre Company, Target Margin Theater, and WP Theatre. The Ross Wetzsteon Award, which comes with a $3,000 prize, went to LCT3, the new-play arm of Lincoln Center Theatre. Lifetime achievement awards were presented to James C. Nicola and Jeffrey Horowitz, artistic directors of New York Theater Workshop and Theatre for a New Audience, respectively.