Theatre Philadelphia Awards $39,000 to Local Artists
On Monday night at the Kimmel Center, Theatre Philadelphia — the new organization that is picking up where the now defunct Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia left off — gave out the three biggest Barrymore Awards: the Lifetime Achievement Award, the $10,000 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist and the $25,000 Brown Martin Philadelphia Award. The other Barrymore Award recipients were announced in September.
Here are the awards accepted at the Kimmel Center event:
Wilma Theater’s Blanka Zizka accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of her late ex-husband, Jiri Zizka, who died in January of liver failure. It’s a nice sentiment to give the award to Jiri Zizka, but why not give it to Blanka, who is more than deserving of it?
11th Hour Theatre Company co-founder Steve Pacek, a Lansdale native, was given the 2012 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Theatre Artist, a $10,000 cash prize. Pacek has directed shows at the Arden and in the Philly Fringe and has acted on TV and at many of the region’s theaters. This is the third time Pacek was nominated for this award. This year’s other nominees, each of whom received a $1,000 prize, were actress/playwright Charlotte Ford, playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger, actor Justin Jain, and Flashpoint Theatre’s Artistic Director Thom Weaver, who happens to be one of the main players behind Theatre Philadelphia.
And finally, Flashpoint Theatre Company was presented with the $25,000 Brown Martin Philadelphia Award for its incredible production of Jacqueline Goldfinger’s Slip/Shot. This brand new award is “is designed to honor those plays that best lead audiences to a better understanding of the unique experience of particular segments of our global community.” Other finalists were Fallow by Kenneth Lin at People’s Light & Theatre Company, Our Class by Tadeusz Slobodzianek at the Wilma, Branch by Walt Vail at Society Hill Playhouse, and Mauckingbird Theatre Company’s production of The Temperamentals by Jon Marans.
Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners.
