Lynn Nottage to Receive Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award; At Work on Ruined Screenplay for Oprah Winfrey and HBO

Lynn Nottage has been named the recipient of the 2010 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, presented by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. The award will be given to Nottage at the third annual “Mimi” Awards ceremony, to be held at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center Theater, on November 8.

The award, which comes with a cash prize of $200,000, honors the artistic achievement of an American playwright whose body of work has made significant contributions to the American theater.

Nottage won the Pulitzer Prize and several other awards for her play, Ruined. Additional plays include Intimate Apparel, which was named Best Play by the New York Drama Critics Circle; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine, which won the Obie Award; and Crumbs from the Table of Joy. Her latest play, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, will premiere at Second Stage this spring.

In related news, the Los Angeles Times reports that Nottage is at work on a screenplay adaptation of Ruined for Harpo Films — Oprah Winfrey’s production company — and HBO Films. No further details on the project, including production timeline or release date are available.