TRU to Present Theater Awards: What They Mean And Why We Give Them

A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is celebrating its fifth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings this Friday, having offered to date over 250 conversations and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts these Community Gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward.

Register here to receive a Zoom link. These gatherings are a service for the theater community and are offered free for TRU members; we ask that non-members help keep us running by buying a ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

7/18 - Theater Awards: What They Mean and Why We Give Them

In the room: Bob Blume, an executive producer of the Drama Desk Awards from 1999-2018; Peter Breger of the OB Alliance Awards; Cat Parker of New York's IT Awards; Bevin Ross, executive director of The Drama League; Charles Wright, co-president of the Drama Desk. The unique identity and purpose of different theater awards, the complex and probably exhausting process of managing and administering an annual awards ceremony and how it functions in stimulating the development of our theater culture. Come learn the history of some of our current theater awards and why each was created, the philosophies behind each, and their differences in terms of esthetics (if there are differences). What do they look for? What do they value? You will learn about eligibility, of course, and how the awards are run and produced. Should art even be competitive? Are awards healthy acknowledgments that offer artists something to aspire to? Isn't this inevitably subjective, or are there ever objective criteria to consider when choosing nominees and winners?