Sleep No More and Gatz win 2011 Obie Awards

Congratulations to GATZ and SLEEP NO MORE for their 2011 Obie Awards

Presented by the Village Voice The 56th Annual Obie Awards ceremony was held at Webster Hall in Greenwich Village and emceed by “Law and Order’s” S. Epatha Merkerson and “Frasier” and La Bete’s David Hyde Pierce. Presenters included Alec Baldwin of “30 Rock,” Andrew Rannells, Arian Moayad, Frank Wood, Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” and The Normal Heart, John Larroquette of How to Succeed…, Tony Award winner Liev Schreiber, Tony Award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mamie Gummer, Margaret Colin, Nina Arianda of Born Yesterday, Patina Miller of Sister Act, and Rose Hemingway. Anthony Rapp, of the original cast of the Obie Award-winning musical Rent, performed with his band from the musical Without You.

WINNERS

Performance:

F. Murray Abraham, sustained excellence of performance

André Braugher, THE WHIPPING MAN (Manhattan Theatre Club)

Michael Chernus, IN THE WAKE (Public Theater)

Ethan Hawke, BLOOD FROM A STONE (The New Group)

Hamish Linklater, THE SCHOOL FOR LIES (Classic Stage Company)

Laurie Metcalf, THE OTHER PLACE (Manhattan Class Company)

Thomas Sadoski, OTHER DESERT CITIES (Lincoln Center Theater)

Scott Shepherd, GATZ (Elevator Repair Service / Public Theater)

Brenda Wehle, THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL’S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES (Signature Theatre / Public Theater)

Charlayne Woodard, THE WITCH OF EDMONTON (Red Bull Theater)

Playwriting:

Samuel D. Hunter, A BRIGHT NEW BOISE (Partial Comfort Productions)

Jonas Hassen Khemiri, INVASION! (The Play Company)

Direction:

Austin Pendleton, THREE SISTERS (Classic Stage Company)

Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (New York Theatre Workshop)

Leigh Silverman, IN THE WAKE (Public Theater) and GO BACK TO WHERE YOU ARE (Playwrights Horizons)

Design:

Jill BC Du Boff, sustained excellence of sound design

Donyale Werle, sustained excellence of set design

Special Citations

Design and Choreography:

SLEEP NO MORE (Punchdrunk Theatre)

– Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan, Beatrice Minns, Maxine Doyle, Stephen Dobbie, Euan Maybank, and David Israel Reynoso

Young Jean Lee, WE’RE GONNA DIE (13P / Joe’s Pub)

debbie tucker green and Leah C. Gardiner, BORN BAD (Soho Rep)

Obie Grants: ($2,500 to each theater)

METROPOLITAN PLAYHOUSE

WAKKA WAKKA

The Ross Wetzsteon Award: (includes $1,000 check)

BELARUS FREE THEATRE

Best New American Play: (includes $1,000 check)

THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY by Kristoffer Diaz (Second Stage)

Lifetime Achievement Award:

René Buch and Repertorio Espanol

Publication date: May 17, 2011

Featured Comment: Congratulations to GATZ and SLEEP NO MORE for their 2011 Obie Awards Performance: Scott Shepherd, GATZ (Elevator Repair Service / Public Theater) Design and Choreography: SLEEP NO MORE (Punchdrunk Theatre) – Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan, Beatrice Minns, Maxine Doyle, Stephen Dobbie, Euan Maybank, and David Israel Reynoso