Circle Mirror Transformation Among Winners at 2010 OBIE Awards
Annie Baker, author of Circle Mirror Transformation and The Aliens, was among the winners at the 55th annual Village Voice OBIE Awards, which were presented on May 17 at Webster Hall in a ceremony co-hosted by Michael Cerveris and Anika Noni Rose. Awards were presented by J. Smith-Cameron, Marin Ireland, Linda Lavin, Hamish Linklater, Michael Shannon and Jennifer Westfeldt, with entertainment provided by the cast and band of Tony Award nominated hit musical Fela!, including the show’s title star, Sahr Ngaujah, an OBIE-winner for the production in 2009.
The 2010 OBIE award winners are as follows:
Best New American Play
Annie Baker, Circle Mirror Transformation and The Aliens
Performance
Ensemble, Circle Mirror Transformation, Playwrights Horizons
(Reed Birney, Tracee Chimo, Peter Friedman, Deidre O’Connell and Heidi Schreck)
Dane DeHann, The Aliens, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Jonathan Hammond, The Boys in the Band, Transport Group
Marc Damon Johnson, The Brother/Sister Plays, The Public Theater
Laurie Metcalf, A Lie of the Mind, The New Group
Juliet Rylance, As You Like It, Bridge Project/BAM
Wendell Pierce, Sustained Excellence of Performance
Rocco Sisto, Sustained Excellence of Performance
The Sustained Achievement Award
David Greenspan
Playwriting
Enda Walsh, The New Electric Ballroom, Druid Theatre/St. Ann’s Warehouse
Directing
Sam Gold, Circle Mirror Transformation, Playwrights Horizons; and The Aliens, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park, Playwrights Horizons
Design/Music
Steven Dufala and Billy Blaise (machine design),
Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines, rainpan 43/HERE Arts Center
Stephen Merritt (music and lyrics), Coraline, MCC Theater
Neil Murray (sets and costumes), Brief Encounter, Kneehigh Theater/St. Ann’s Warehouse
Malcolm Rippeth (lighting), Brief Encounter, Kneehigh Theater/St. Ann’s Warehouse
Gemma Carrinton and Jon Driscoll (projection design), Brief Encounter, Kneehigh Theater/St. Ann’s Warehouse
Tyler Micoleau, Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design
Special Citations
Ariane Mnouchkine & Theatre du Soleil, Les Ephemeres, Lincoln Center Festival
Taylor Mac, The Lily’s Revenge, HERE Arts Center
The Ohio Theatre
Hoi Polloi and Rachel Chavkin, Three Pianos
Philippe Quesne and Gaetan Vourc’h, L’Effect De Serge, Vivarium Studio/Under the Radar
Chris Wells, Secret City
The Ross Wetzsteon Award
Foundry Theatre
The OBIE Awards honor excellence in every aspect of theater and do not publish nominations. Enforcing that creativity is not competitive, the judges may give multiple OBIE awards in any category or invent new categories in order to reward “exceptional artistic merit.”