The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has announced that it will present the 22nd annual Monte Cristo Award to playwright and screenwriter Lynn Nottage. Nottage will be honored with a gala celebration Monday, November 6, at Capitale in New York City.
Nottage was in residence at the O'Neill in 2006 while writing her Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined. She received a second Pulitzer for her 2015 play Sweat, making her the first and only woman to receive the honor twice.
Ruined opened Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club February 10, 2009, and ran through September 6, 2009, receiving nine extensions. Sweat played Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2016, then transferred to Broadway at Studio 54. The production opened March 26, 2017, and played 105 performances before closing June 25, 2017. Sweat received three Tony Award nominations, including Best Play.
The Monte Cristo Award is bestowed each year on a prominent artist whose work has had an extraordinary impact on American theatre. The celebratory gala supports the O'Neill's mission to develop new work and help prepare new artists for the stage.
The 2023 gala is directed by Seret Scott, and will feature special performances by Quincy Tyler Bernstein, Tonya Pinkins, Jason Bowen, Gabby Beans, Stacey Sargeant, CJ Wilson and Joyce Sylvester, among others. The evening’s gala committee includes Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stephen & Ruth Hendel, David Henry Hwang, Genia Kaplan Quinn & Dr. Bruce Quinn, Dominique Morisseau, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, The Nederlander Organization, Tom Viertel & Pat Daily, and Constanza Romero Wilson.
“Lynn Nottage is one of the most incredible creative minds of our generation," says O'Neill Executive Director Tiffani Gavin. "Her emphasis on working class and marginalized individuals–much like Eugene O’Neill himself–has helped countless audiences to see reflections of themselves on the stage, which has made the theater as a whole that much richer for everyone. We’re thrilled to be celebrating Lynn and her extraordinary body of work this year.”
Click here for gala tickets.
