Bentley and Weikel to Receive Robert Chesley Foundation Awards

The Robert Chesley Foundation will award Eric Bentley with its lifetime achievement award and Chris Weikel with its emerging gay playwright award at a ceremony at Tishman Auditorium of The New School (66 West 12th Street) on May 7 at 7pm.

Established in 1993, the foundation seeks to advance gay and lesbian theater by honoring playwrights who have put lesbian or gay characters at the center of their plays, have rejected stereotypes or turned them to new uses, and have made or are making a significant contribution to our culture. The awards carry a cash prize of $2,000 each.

Bentley is the author of books such as The Playwright as Thinker, The Life of the Drama, and The Brecht Commentaries, Bentley on Brecht. His plays include Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, Lord Alfred’s Lover, and Round Two. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1998.

Weikel is the author of Penny Penniworth, Dansport, and The Way-Weary. He is also a founding member of the gay and lesbian theatre company TOSOS II.

The ceremony, which is free and open to the public, is presented in conjunction with the annual Publishing Triangle Awards, which honor the best lesbian and gay fiction, non-fiction, and poetry published in 2006. For more information, visit www.publishingtriangle.org.