2008 Honorary New York Innovative Theatre Awards Announced

IT Awards Announce Honorary Recipients
Judith Malina to receive the Artistic Achievement Award
The New York Theatre Experience to receive Stewardship Award
The Boomerang Theatre Company to receive Caffe Cino Fellowship

The New York Innovative Theatre Awards (IT Awards), the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, is pleased to announce the 2008 Honorary Award Recipients.

The IT Awards will announce its fourth annual production awards in a ceremony on Monday, September 22, 2008 at the Haft Auditorium at the Fashion Institute of Technology (Building C, W. 27th St., bet. 7th and 8th aves.). Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the door, available at www.nyitawards.com.

According to Leonard Jacobs, National Theatre Editor, Back Stage and Chair of the Honorary Awards Committee, "Off-Off-Broadway's evolution over the last decade has been thrilling, especially given the economic challenges faced by independent artists. That the Honorary Awards Committee has had so many qualified applicants to choose from for four straight years suggests the community is strengthening and asserting its rightful place as one of the industry's premier laboratories, the place where some of the most dynamic work can be found."

The 2008 Artistic Achievement Award, presented to an individual who has made a significant artistic contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community.

Judith Malina: A poet, writer, political activist, director, producer and actress, Malina founded The Living Theatre, the oldest experimental theatre group still existing in the US, with her husband Julian Beck. Many people believe that the Living Theatre inaugurated the Off-Off-Broadway movement and introduce the U.S. to avant-garde theatre.

The 2008 Stewardship Award, presented to an individual or organization demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.

New York Theatre Experience (nytheatre.com): Mission is to build audiences for and interest in theatre in New York City, with a particular emphasis on emerging artists in the nonprofit sector, by using new and traditional media to connect them with the theatre-going public and advocate for them within the broad cultural community.

The 2008 Caffe Cino Fellowship, presented to an Off-Off-Broadway theatre company that consistently produces outstanding work. This award also includes a fellowship to be used toward an Off-Off-Broadway production.

The Boomerang Theatre Company: Celebrating its tenth season, the Boomerang Theatre Company annually produces a season composed of three programs: free outdoor Shakespeare productions in parks throughout NYC; an indoor repertory series of new, classic and neglected plays; and First Flight, a new play development series of workshops and readings.

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