Rob Ulin wins 2025 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for “Judgment Day”
COSTA MESA, Calif. – Rob Ulin has won the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association’s (ATCA) 2025 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for his play Judgment Day. Given by ATCA in memory of critic, director, educator and new play advocate M. Elizabeth “Betty” Osborn (1941-1993), the prize recognizes the work of a playwright who has not yet received a major production, such as a Broadway or Off-Broadway engagement, or received any other major national awards. The Osborn Award carries a $3,000 cash prize.
The 2025 Osborn award, was presented along with the 2025 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award 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.
Judgment Day premiered at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Subtitled “an irreverent new comedy,” the play by veteran TV screenwriter Ulin includes a “morally bankrupt lawyer” confronting eternal damnation, an angel, a near-death experience, and multiple crises of faith.
The winning work was 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 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award was established in 1994. An ATCA member and editor-author at Theatre Communications Group, Osborn championed new plays, fostering and promoting the early careers of such dramatists as Paula Vogel, Tony Kushner, and José Rivera.
Past recipients of the Osborn Award include Rebecca Gilman, J.T. Rogers, Rolin Jones, Chelsea Marcantel, Jonathan Norton, Cori Thomas, and last year’s honoree Songs Without Words by Jennifer Vosters. Click here for a full list of Osborn Award winners.
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