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Theatre women create awards in honor of Lillian Hellman

posted by Women & Hollywood
Friday, May 21, 2010 at 5:17pm EDT

This year a bunch of very high profile theatre writers and others decided that they were tired of women’s work being constantly unacknowledged, so they created The Lilly awards which will honor 17 women theater artists, as well as Mary Rodgers who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Awards, whose work has been produced in the past year in New York City.

They call themselves the The Committee for Recognizing Women in Theater (how much do you love that name?) and include Julie Crosby, John Eisner, Gary Garrison, Tina Howe, Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman, Theresa Rebeck, Susan Rose, Tim Sanford and the Dramatists Guild of America which was created “out of a desire to celebrate the work of outstanding, successful and up-and-coming women playwrights, directors, designers and advocates in the theater.”

They named the award for the amazing Lillian Hellman (if you have not read any of her plays, you must) and here is one reason why this honor is most appropriate for Hellman.

This is what Hellman said to Marsha Norman:

She warned me it was going to be tough to be a woman working in the theater. She said I’d need to write like the devil and also act like one when necessary. She was right on all counts. This party is just to remind everybody that there are so many great women working in the theatre now. In New York alone, 51 plays this year, on Broadway and off, were written by women. And the work is stunning. I wish Ms. Hellman could see this.

Here’s what Theresa Rebeck said about the award:

There are a thousand stories to tell, and women are telling half of them. This award hopes to honor and recognize those stories.

The awards will be held on Monday, May 24th in NYC at Playwright’s Horizons. The great Gloria Steinem will kick off the awards with an invocation at 5:00 p.m. sharp. Seating is very limited. For more info email thelillyawards@gmail.com.

I’ll be there and will have a full report.