Branden Jacobs-Jenkins wins 2025 Steinberg/ATCA Award for “Purpose”
COSTA MESA, Calif. – Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has won the 2025 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for his play Purpose.
The Steinberg/ATCA Award, which carries a $25,000 cash prize, recognizes an outstanding script that premiered in a professional production outside of New York City in 2024. Purpose debuted at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Ill.
After its regional debut last year, Purpose is currently running on Broadway at the Hayes Theater. The production received six 2025 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play.
Two 2025 Steinberg/ATCA citations were also presented to The Janeiad by Anna Ziegler, produced by Alley Theatre in Houston, Tex., and Little Bear Ridge Road by Samuel D. Hunter, also produced by Steppenwolf. Each citation carries a $7500 cash prize.
The 2025 awards were presented on Friday, May 2, in Costa Mesa, Calif., as part of the 2025 Pacific Playwrights Festival. ATCA thanks South Coast Repertory for generously hosting the presentation.
With an annual prize total of $40,000, Steinberg/ATCA is one of the largest national new play award programs. ATCA began honoring new plays produced at regional theaters outside New York City in 1977, and the awards have been funded by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust since 2000. Plays receiving a production in New York City during the award cycle are not eligible for the Steinberg/ATCA award, recognizing the many other awards programs already in existence there.
At the ceremony, ATCA also presented the 2024 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award to Rob Ulin for his play Judgment Day, premiered by Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Chicago, Ill. Named for the late critic, new play advocate, and ATCA member M. Elizabeth (“Betty”) Osborn (1941-1993), the award recognizes the work of an emerging playwright who has not yet received a major New York production or a major national award. The Osborn Award carries a $3000 prize.
The recipients were selected from a pool of eligible scripts recommended by ATCA members from around the country. Cameron Kelsall (Philadelphia, PA) served as chair of the ATCA New Play Committee during the adjudication process. Other participating members included Nancy Bishop (Chicago, IL), Lindsay Christians (Madison, WI), Mike Fischer (Milwaukee, WI), Amanda Finn (Chicago, IL), Melissa Hall (Indianapolis, IN), Lou Harry (Indianapolis, IN), Ed Huyck (Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN), Elizabeth Kramer (Louisville, KY), Martha Wade Steketee (New York, NY), Doug Strassler (New York, NY), and Bob Verini (Boston, MA).
The 2025 presentation of the Steinberg/ATCA and Osborn Awards was dedicated to Misha Berson. A veteran theater journalist in Seattle, Berson served as co-chair of the ATCA New Play Committee from 2021 until her death on Feb. 13, 2025.
Past honorees of ATCA’s new play award include August Wilson, Horton Foote, Lynn Nottage, Moises Kaufmann, Lee Blessing, Marsha Norman, Nilo Cruz, Regina Taylor, Qui Nguyen, Lauren Yee, Michael Cristofer, and Rebecca Gilman. The 2024 winner was The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh. A complete list of recipients can be found here.
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg on behalf of himself and his late wife. Pursuing its primary mission to support the American theater, it has provided grants totaling millions of dollars for new productions of American plays and educational programs for those who may not ordinarily experience live theater.
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