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Cox, Foote, Hamilton, Hwang, Kennedy, Mulgrew, Stew, et al. Win 2008 Obie Awards

LisaGay Hamilton in Ohio State Murders (© Gerry Goodstein)

The 53rd Annual Village Voice Obie Awards, honoring the best of Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway, were held on Monday, May 19 at Webster Hall, hosted by real-life couple Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel. Actors Jonathan Groff, Priscilla Lopez, Marisa Tomei, S. Epatha Merkerson, Julie White, and Bradley Whitford were the evening's presenters.

The ceremony included a performance of two songs from the cast of Passing Strange, which received an Obie for Ensemble Acting, while co-creators Stew, Annie Dorsen, and Heidi Rodewald received the $1000 prize for Best New Theater Piece.

The Obie for Lifetime Achievement went to playwright Adrienne Kennedy, while awards for Sustained Excellence were given to actors Veanne Cox and Sean McNall and designers Jane Greenwood and David Zinn.

Performance Obies were given to Lisa Gay Hamilton (Ohio State Murders), Joel Hatch (Adding Machine, Francis Jue (Yellow Face), Kate Mulgrew (Iphigenia 2.0), Heidi Schreck (Drum of the Waves of Horikawa), and Rebecca Wisocky (Amazons and their Men).

Obies were also bestowed to playwrights Horton Foote (Diving the Estate) and David Henry Hwang (Yellow Face); directors Krzysztof Warilkowski (Krum) and David Cromer (Adding Machine); and designers Takeshi Kata and Keith Parham (Adding Machine), Peter Ksander (Untitled Mars), and Ben Katchor, John Findlay, Jeff Sugg, and Russell H. Champa (The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island).

The Obies also include $10,000 in grant money given to local theater companies, which was divided equally between Keen Company and Theater of a Two-Headed Calf, the $2,000 Ross Wetzsteon Award, given to an institution that fosters the development of new theatrical voices, was presented to the Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project. Special citations were given to Nature Theatre of Oklahama for No Dice and David Greenspan for The Argument.

This year's Obie committee includes Voice critics Michael Feingold (chair) and Alexis Soloski, critics Mark Blankenship, Jeremy Gerard, and Helen Shaw, playwright-director Robert O'Hara, and set designer Neil Patel.

 

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