The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust have announced that the honorees for their 2022 Steinberg Playwright Awards are James Ijames, writer of the upcoming Broadway play “Fat Ham,” and playwright Lloyd Suh. Each will receive a $100,000 prize.
The “Mimi” Awards, as they’re known, honor early-to-mid-career playwrights and acknowledge their talent and their promising futures within the theater.
Ijames won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “Fat Ham,” which will open on Broadway in 2023. Suh’s playwriting credits include “The Far Country,” which is currently playing at Atlantic Theater Company, and “The Heart Sellers,” which will premiere at Milwaukee Rep in February.
“I am honored to be selected for this year’s award! Awards like the Steinberg Playwright Prize give writers freedoms and options!” said Ijames. “I’m thankful for this award and humbled to be joining such an amazing roster of past recipients.”
Criteria, candidates and recipients for the awards are chosen by a panel of seven notable theater professionals. This year, the panel included Jeremy B. Cohen, producing artistic director of The Playwrights’ Center; Snehal Desai, artistic director of East West Players; Oskar Eustis, artistic director of The Public Theater; Maria Manuela Goyanes, artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Sarah Lunnie, dramaturg; Neil Pepe, artistic director of Atlantic Theater Company; and Hana S. Sharif, artistic director of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.
“James Ijames and Lloyd Suh are visionary storytellers and chroniclers of the American experience,” said advisory committee member Lunnie. “Their plays match formal adventure with deep humanity, reflecting indelible histories and proposing new futures. Their contributions to the theater are enormous—we’re so lucky to be in their audience.”
The board of trustees of The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust is made up of Carole Krumland, Susan Frunzi, James Steinberg, Michael Steinberg, Seth Weingarten and William Zabel.
