Oppenheimer Award Explained

The Oppenheimer Award (also known as the Newsday George Oppenheimer Award or the Oppy) was named after the late playwright and Newsday drama critic George Oppenheimer. It was awarded annually to the best New York debut production by an American playwright for a non-musical play.^[1] The selection committee has included playwrights Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, James Lapine, and Richard Greenberg. The award carries a $5,000 cash prize. The first award of $1,000, to the play Getting Out by Marsha Norman, was made in 1979, two years after Oppenheimer's death. It was discontinued in 2007.

Winners

• 1979 Getting Out, Marsha Norman^[2]
• 1981 Crimes of the Heart'’, Beth Henley^[3]
• 1983 To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Michael Brady
• 1985 The Bloodletters by Richard Greenberg
• 1988 Mr. Universe by Jim Grimsley
• 1989 The Film Society Jon Robin Baitz
• 1990 Tales of the Lost Formicans, Constance Congdon
• 1991 La Bête by David Hirson
• 1992 Marvin's Room, Scott McPherson
• 1993 Joined at the Head by Catherine Butterfield^[4]
• 1994 Pterodactyls by Nicky Silver. Why We Have a Body by Claire Chafee^[5]
• 1996 Insurrection: Holding History, Robert O'Hara
• 1997 "The Grey Zone", Tim Blake Nelson
• 1999 Wit by Margaret Edson^[6]
• 2002 Brutal Imagination by Cornelius Eady
• 2003 Corner Wars by Tim Dowlin^[7]
• 2004 The Flu Season by Will Eno^[8]
• 2005 Everything Will Be Different: A Brief History of Helen of Troy, Mark Schultz
• 2006 The Sugar Bean Sisters, Nathan Sanders
• 2007 Heddatron, Elizabeth Meriwether

Notes and References

1. Web site: Eady's 'Imagination' is Oppy Award Winner.
2. New York Times SEP. 15, 1979 https://www.nytimes.com/1979/09/15/archives/marsha-norman-wins-playwrighting-award.html?_r=0
3. The Plays of Beth Henley: A Critical Study, Gene A. Plunka https://books.google.com/books?id=6qhGX-xAFFgC&pg=PA13
4. News: Isenberg. Barbara. She Made Friends With Death : Catherine Butterfield wrote 'Joined at the Head,' a play about a brave friend dying of cancer. But that wasn't enough. She then decided she had to play the friend. It turned out to be good therapy and, incidentally, a hit. 24 November 2016. Los Angeles Times. 6 February 1994.
5. Book: Nelson. Emmanuel S.. Encyclopedia of Contemporary LGBTQ Literature of the United States. 2009. ABC-CLIO. 9780313348600. 193. 24 November 2016. en.
6. News: Jones. Kenneth. Edson to Accept Oppenheimer Playwriting Award Nov. 15. 24 November 2016. Playbill. November 15, 1999.
7. Playbill Sep 16 2003
8. News: Robert Simonson. Simonson. Robert. Will Eno's Flu Season Wins 2004 George Oppenheimer Award. 24 November 2016. Playbill. October 2, 2004.