Athol Fugard, Philip J. Smith and Eve Ensler Win 2011 Special Tony Awards

South African playwright, director and actor Athol Fugard and Shubert Organization Chairman Philip J. Smith have been awarded 2011 Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Playwright, performer and activist Eve Ensler will receive the 2011 Isabelle Stevenson Award, which recognizes an individual from the theater community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations. The three recipients were chosen by the Tony Awards Administration Committee and will receive their awards at the Tony ceremony on June 12.

Before the end of apartheid, Fugard brought the stories of all South Africans to the larger world and fought racism in his native country. His plays include The Train Driver, No-Good Friday, Non-Gogo, Blood Knot, Hello and Goodbye, People Are Living There, Boesman and Lena, Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act, Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, Dimetos, The Island, A Lesson From Aloes, Master Harold...and the boys, The Road to Mecca, A Place With the Pigs, My Children! My Africa!, Playland, Valley Song, The Captain's Tiger, Sorrows & Rejoicings, Exits and Entrances, Victory and Coming Home.

Smith began his Shubert career more than 50 years ago as a box office treasurer, moved up the ranks to serve as President from 1996 to 2008 and is now the Chairman of the Shubert Organization.

Ensler, a playwright, performer and activist, is the author of the award-winning Vagina Monologues and founder of V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Her other plays include Necessary Targets, The Treatment and The Good Body, and she wrote a bestselling memoir, I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Life Of Girls Around the World.

In addition, Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre will be presented to theatrical animal trainer Bill Berloni, The Drama Book Shop, and Sharon Jensen and the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts. Established in 1990, the Tony Honors are awarded annually to institutions, individuals and/or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in theater but are not eligible in any of the established Tony Award categories.