American Blues Theater Announces 2026 Blue Ink Award Winners, Including LA's Benjamine Benne

CHICAGO, IL - American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, announces the recipient of the 2026 Blue Ink Award is Nia Akilah Robinson for her play Overnight at the Museum. As part of the award, Robinson receives a $3,000 cash prize and a staged reading at American Blues Theater.

A staged reading of Overnight at the Museum will be presented in August as part of the 2026 Blue Ink Playwriting Festival, along with new work by finalists Benjamin Benne (and thou shalt be healed), and Claire Crowley (The Scouts of America Don't Sell Cookies, B*tch). Details for the playwrights named in the 2026 Blue Ink Award are at AmericanBluesTheater.com.

2026 Blue Ink Award winner Nia Akilah Robinson notes, "My mother and my father created a household for any and all conversations regarding Black history were welcomed, debated, and celebrated. My mother always taught me to dig deeper into Black history, and my father taught me to find (if it was possible) the humor within it. I love museums and galleries, and there's so much more to say about them; To Maboula Soumahoro - thank you for your classroom. This award is a great honor, thank you American Blues Theater."

"We're thrilled to name Nia Akilah Robinson's play Overnight at the Museum as the 2026 Blue Ink Award for playwriting. Nia's essential script about the repatriation of artifacts to Ghana brilliantly balances the poignant and timely theme on a sharp comic edge. We're excited to present the staged reading to Chicago audiences as part of our Blue Ink Playwriting Festival," comments Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside.

About Overnight at the Museum

Two Black men who work as night guards for museum security are stealing Ghanaian artifacts from a gentrified American neighborhood. Can they get them where they need to be before the grand opening of a "Neo-African Museum"? Overnight at the Museum is a hilarious heist story that masterfully toys with our definitions of history, legacy, and art.

About Nia Akilah Robinson

Nia Akilah Robinson is (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. Productions: Soho Rep U.S. Off Broadway Premiere (2025 New York Times Critics Pick), NextStop Theatre (2026 Helen Hayes Recommended), Co-Pro: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company & Company One Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Theatre503, Theatre Exile, and The Hearth. Her work has been seen

and developed with Nashville Repertory Theatre (Ingram New Works Project), Steppenwolf Theatre,

The New Group, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Waterwell, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Urbanite,

and New Georges. Nia has been a MacDowell Fellow, Travis Bogard Eugene O'Neill Foundation Fellow, and a writer for PEN America and EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (short play). She has had residencies at NYSAF and The Pocantico Center through YoungArts. Nia's work has been featured at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Fire This Time Festival, and the 48th Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Nia has been awarded 1st Place for the 2023 A is For Playwriting Contest, the Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Writing Scholarship, a Miranda Family Fund Commission, and the NYSCA Grant (CCCADI). She was shortlisted for the 2023 Theatre503's International Playwriting Award. And Nia is a member or alumna of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, I-73 at Page 73, The Orchard Project NYC Greenhouse, The Wish Collective, and TheBlackHERthePen. Education: Yale (DGSD- MFA Playwriting Candidate) & Juilliard (Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program).

About the Blue Ink Award for playwriting

Established in 2010 to support original, unpublished plays, the Blue Ink Award has grown into a nationally recognized platform for playwrights. Since its inception, the Award has named 16 winners, 197 finalists, and 283 semi-finalists, while distributing nearly $15,000 annually in cash prizes and development support to artists across the country.

Winning plays have gone on to premiere in major theater markets including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and San Diego, with many playwrights receiving further productions, commissions, and national recognition. Notable past recipients include Idris Goodwin, Benjamin Benne, Elaine Romero, and Kristoffer Diaz.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play will be selected by Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater's ensemble. The 2026 winning playwright receives a monetary prize of $3,000. Cash prizes are also awarded to finalists and semi-finalists.

Submissions for the 2027 Blue Ink Award open August 1, 2026. All submissions must be received by American Blues Theater by August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm. Playwrights may only submit one (1) manuscript each year for consideration.

About American Blues Theater

Winner of the prestigious National Theatre Company Award from American Theatre Wing (Tony Awards). American Blues Theater is an Ensemble of artists committed to producing new and classic diverse stories that ask the question: "What does it mean to be American?"

The diverse and multi-generational artists have established the second-oldest professional Ensemble theater in Chicago. As of 2026, the theater and artists received 246 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater and 44 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.

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