Foundation re-elects Handelman president and raises Osborn award

Foundation re-elects Handelman president and raises Osborn award

New York — At its annual meeting held on Zoom on August 18, 2021, the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics re-elected Jay Handelman as president for a ninth term. Handelman previously served four three-year terms as an ATCA board member and four years as chair of the executive committee. The board also elected former ATCA chair Martha Wade Steketee as vice president and re-elected former ATCA chair Bill Hirschman as treasurer. Volunteers interested in serving as Foundation secretary are invited to contact Jay Handelman at criticjay@gmail.com. Several Foundation positions vacant through ExCom departures will be filled when those ExCom positions are filled, by appointment or by election. Review the updated Foundation information here.

During its meeting, the Foundation board voted to increase the value of the Osborn New Play Award for emerging playwrights to $3,000. Winners had received a $1,000 prize since the award’s inception in 1994. The Osborn prize is the only playwriting award funded solely by the Foundation.

Misha Berson, who co-chairs the New Play Awards committee with ATCA vice chair Cameron Kelsall, said, “We thank Foundation ATCA for its generous support in raising the amount of the Osborn Award. This is an important investment in playwrights who do not yet have the national recognition the New Play Awards committee feel they deserve. I knew the late Betty Osborn (for whom the award is named) well, and imagine she would be very gratified by this important support of emerging dramatists.”