2007 Obie Award winners announced

The winners of the 52nd Annual Obie Awards were announced yesterday evening (21 May) at a ceremony held at NYU's Skirball Center. The Obie's have been honoring the Off-Broadway community since 1956 and are considered Off-Broadway's highest honor.

The event was hosted by Cynthia Nixon and T.R. Knight, and the presenters of the awards included Angela Lansbury, Camryn Manheim, Michael Cerveris, Terrence McNally, Stephanie March, Liev Schreiber, William Ivey Long and Anika Noni Rose.

The lifetime acheivemet award was presented to Alvin Epstein.

The judging panal was chaired by Village Voice Theatre Critic and Obie Chairperson Michael Feingold. His fellow judges included Kirsten Childs, Ain Gordon, Adam Rapp, Anne Dennin, Jeremy McCarter, Alexis Soloski.

The winners of the 2007 Obie Awards are:
There are no nominations or categories for the Obies.

Performance:

• Betsy Aidem: Sustained Excellence of Performance
• Donna Lynne Champlin: The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
• Andre De Shields: Sustained Excellence of Performance
• Ain Gordon: Stories Left to Tell
• David Greenspan: Faust and Some Men
• Nina Hellman: Trouble in Paradise
• Ron Cephas Jones: Sustained Excellence of Performance
• Nancy Opel: My Deah
• Roslyn Ruff: Seven Guitars
• James Saito: Durango
• Michael Stuhlbarg: The Voysey Inheritance
• Nilaja Sun: No Child
• Harris Yulin: Frank's Home
• Ensemble: Tale of 2Cities

Direction

• Lou Bellamy: Two Trains Running
• Anne Kauffman: The Thugs
• Matthew Maguire: Abandon
• Eirik Stubo: The Wild Duck
• Chay Yew: Durango

Playwriting

• Adam Bock: The Thugs

Design

• Beowulf Boritt: sustained excellence in set design
• Robert Kaplowitz: sustained excellence in sound design
• Rae Smith: for set and costume design of Oliver Twist

Special Citation

• Daniel Beaty: Emergence-SEE
• Edward Hall & Propeller: Taming of the Shrew
• Tim Crouch: An Oak Tree
• Ensemble and director Judith Malina: The Brig

Emerging Playwright Award ($1,000 prize)

• Young Jean Lee

The Ross Wetzsteon Memorial Award ($2,000 prize)

• Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre

Lifetime Achievement

• Eric Bentley

Theater Grants (Totaling $10,000)

• Transport Group
• Peculiar Works Project
• Synapse Productions
• The Play Company