The Acting Company to Honor Playwright John Guare at 2017 Winter Gala

The Acting Company will honor playwright John Guare and film and theater producer/philanthropist Anne L. Bernstein - two individuals whose exemplary work aligns with the artistic and educational ideals of the widely acclaimed touring repertory company that promotes theater and arts education nationwide - at the Company's 2017 Winter Gala, on December 4.

Held in the exquisite 583 Park Avenue event space (Park Ave. and 63rd Street), the event will bring together awards, live entertainment, dancing, silent and live auctions, dinner, and cocktails in celebration of theater and its contribution to American society.

Timothy Helwick and Timothy J. Saunders are Co-Chairs of the gala, and Dakin Matthews is its Honorary Chairman. Earl D. Weiner is Chairman of The Acting Company's board.

John Guare will be presented with the John Houseman Award, which honors individuals who have extended the legacy of The Acting Company founder John Houseman's profound commitment to the development of American classical actors and cultivation of a national theater audience. From Guare's work as one of the original members of the influential Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, to his 1968 Obie win for Muzeeka, to the plays he wrote during his New York Shakespeare Festival residency, to his ecstatically-received House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Separation, Guare has for six decades found his way to the core of American theater-often by using his plays to dissect the twisted core of American values. Just this year, Six Degrees received an Allison Janney-starring Broadway revival,deemed "a welcome reminder of the fiercely intelligent, pungently funny voice of playwright John Guare" (The Hollywood Reporter).

The John Houseman Award has previously been given to such colossal acting talents as Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline, and Uta Hagen; influential figures like Theatre for a New Audience founder Jeffrey Horowitz, Spelman College President/former Dean of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, and Public Theater founder Joseph Papp; directorial greats like Yale Repertory Theatre's James Bundy and former Old Globe Theatre Artistic Director Jack O'Brien; and various others.

The Acting Company will honor longtime Acting Company board member Anne L. Bernstein with the Joan Warburg Humanitarian Award, bestowed on individuals who have demonstrated admirable dedication to philanthropic causes in the arts and other areas. Beyond supporting a panoply of crucial theater companies throughout the United States, Bernstein has produced a number of films, including the 2004 documentary Broadway: The Golden Age, which culled footage from Broadway from the 40s to the 60s into a "riveting...and heart-skippingly exhilarating" history lesson (New York Observer).

Previous Warburg Award recipients include Harry Belafonte, Tom Viola, Abigail Disney, Gerald Schoenfeld, Phyllis Newman, Barbara Fleischman, and the Honorable Thomas Kean, among others.

The gala takes place amidst a full New York City season The Acting Company is presenting in 2017-18. The Company presents X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation, Marcus Gardley's acclaimed play about the assassination of Malcolm X, told through the framework of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, January 13 - February 25, 2018, at the Theatre at St. Clement's; and Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's comedy, a co-production with Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players (REP), directed by Maria Aitken, May 10-27, 2018, at Theatre for a New Audience's Polonsky Shakespeare Center. A co-production of the Shakespeare comedy Love's Labour's Lost with The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, directed by the Company's Artistic Director, Ian Belknap, toured the the Hudson Valley August 12 - September 2; appeared at the at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival August 14 - 29; and is touring New York City schools through September 29.

ABOUT THE GALA HONOREES:

For more than 35 years, Anne L. Bernstein has been a leader within the arts community, producing more than 20 shows and several films, including the award-winning documentary "Broadway: The Golden Age," and the forthcoming "Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age" and "Broadway: The Next Generation." Over 18 years as a member of The Acting Company's Board of Directors, she has helped to foster the careers of countless young actors and championed new and compelling works for the theater. She is also on the board of The Transport Group, supports young actors through the Anne L. Bernstein Scholarship at The Juilliard School, and is underwriter of Primary Stages' Off-Broadway Oral History Project. Ms. Bernstein is a dedicated supporter of Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Second Stage, Playwrights' Horizons, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PBS, Donors Choose, City Harvest and The Gorilla Foundation. In 2012, The Anne L. Bernstein Theater at The Theater Center in Times Square was named in her honor.

A lifelong resident of New York City, John Guare wrote his first play at age eleven and has since secured a legacy as one of the most prominent voices of the American theater. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, Mr. Guare quickly gained recognition for his unique style, earning an Obie Award for his one-act play Muzeeka. Among his many works for the stage are The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Landscape of the Body, Rich and Famous, Marco Polo Sings a Solo, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, A Free Man of Color, and librettos for The Sweet Smell of Success and the Tony Award-winning Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Musical. Guare has maintained a longstanding relationship with The Acting Company, contributing critically acclaimed short plays to its productions of Desire, Love's Fire and Orchards. He has garnered every major theatrical writing award, including the Tony, Olivier Award, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and OBIE Awards. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and an Academy Award nominee for his screenplay for the 1980 film Atlantic City.

Founded in 1972 by legendary producer/director/actor John Houseman and previous Producing Director Margot Harley with members of the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division, The Acting Company has performed 144 Productions for over 4 million people in 48 states and 10 foreign countries. The Company has given two generations of actors the opportunity to master their craft by touring a repertory of classic and news plays to diverse communities nationwide. Alumni include Kevin Kline, Rainn Wilson, Patti LuPone, David Schramm, Jesse L. Martin, David Ogden Stiers, Frances Conroy, Jeffrey Wright, Harriet Harris, Hamish Linklater and Keith David. Among over a dozen new plays and adaptations commissioned by The Acting Company are works by Lynn Nottage, Tony Kushner, Beth Henley, John Guare, Rebecca Gilman, Maria Irene Fornes, Ntozake Shange, David Mamet and Jeffrey Hatcher.

The Company's education programs - Learning Through Theater Artistic Residencies, Student Matinees, Workshops, Master Classes, Primary Shakespeare and Shakespeare for Teachers - reach students in disadvantaged schools where achievement levels are often considerably below average. These programs have fostered a renewed interest in learning, improved grades, and expanded communication and social skills.

The Acting Company has been honored with numerous awards, including the Obie, Audelco, Los Angeles Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award for Excellence in Theater. The Company is the subject of the 2013 documentary feature "Still On the Road."