New York-based playwright Anne Washburn was recently selected as the sixth recipient of the Hermitage Major Theater Award.
The jury-selected prize, established by the Hermitage in 2021 with support from the Flora Major and Kutya Major Foundation, offers one of the largest unrestricted nonprofit theater commissions in the United States. Washburn will receive $35,000, a Hermitage residency, and a developmental workshop in a major arts capital – anticipated in New York in late 2027.
Washburn’s plays include “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play,” a New York Times Critic’s Pick, “10 Out of 12,” “Antlia Pneumatica,” “The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire,” and “A Devil at Noon,” Her work has been produced nationally and internationally. Her honors include an Alpert Award, a Guggenheim, a PEN/Laura Pels Award, twice a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn, and a Whiting Award.
“This is a demanding project I’ve been thinking about for years, and this award with the residency time at the Hermitage (at what looks like a dreamy stretch of this good earth) makes it all possible,” Washburn said.
The 2026 HMTA Award Committee included Evan Cabnet, Artistic Director of New York’s Second Stage Theater and longtime Artistic Director of LCT3 at Lincoln Center; Snehal Desai, Artistic Director of Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group and previous Producing Artistic Director of East West Players; and Jill Rafson, Producing Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company in New York and previously the Associate Artistic Director at Roundabout Theatre Company.
“We are honored to support Anne as she creates this epic new play, and we can’t wait to see her brilliant work come to fruition,” said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg.
Greenfield Prize Dinner
Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and Obie Award winner Will Swenson (“Hair,” “A Beautiful Noise,” “Les Misérables”) will headline the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on April 12. He will be joined by returning Hermitage Fellow Britton Smith, who has appeared in two recent Hermitage programs and will share some of his original music.
Swenson is celebrated as one of Broadway’s most versatile actors. He is a Tony Award nominee and an Obie Award winner who recently starred as Neil Diamond in the Broadway musical “A Beautiful Noise.”
He previously co-starred with Hermitage Fellow Gavin Creel in the hit Broadway revival of “Hair.” Swenson’s performance in the iconic role of George Berger earned Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations. (Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg won a Tony Award for his role as a producer.) Swenson’s portrayal of Charles Guiteau in the Off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins” earned nominations for the Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and Drama League awards.
Swenson won an Obie Award for his role in “Jerry Springer: The Opera.” His other Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert,” “Les Misérables,” “Waitress,” “Murder Ballad” (written by Hermitage Fellow Julia Jordan), “Rock of Ages,” “Pericles,” “Nantucket Sleighride,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Adrift in Macao,” and many more. Swenson’s film and television credits include “The Greatest Showman, “The Kitchen,” “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” “Law & Order (SVU & CI),” The Good Wife, “Hit and Run,” and “:Elsbeth.”
For more information, visit hermitageartistretreat.org.
Submissions by The Hermitage
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New York playwright wins major theater award, Hermitage residency
Reporting by Special to the Herald-Tribune, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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