2012 Obie Awards – winners

The 57th Annual Obie Awards for Off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions were given last night by the Village Voice at Webster Hall in the East Village. The awards were presented by actors Eric McCormack, Grace Gummer, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Justin Bartha, Leslie Odom Jr., Lily Rabe, Michael McKean, Tonya Pinkins, Topher Grace, and Tracee Chimo.

The winner for Best New American Play was Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles about a young man who arrives at his widowed grandmother's place after cycling across the country. It also received a Performance Award for its leads Gabriel Ebert and Mary Louise Wilson.

The awards were decided by a jury of theatre writers/critics and past Obie winners. The critics were Brian Parks, Michael Feingold, Alexis Soloski, and Helen Shaw, while the past Obie winners were Annie Baker, Anne Kauffman and José Rivera.

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Complete list of winners for the 57th Annual Obie Awards

Best New American Play (with $1,000 prize)
Amy Herzog, 4000 Miles

Performance
Cherise Boothe, Milk Like Sugar (Playwrights Horizons and the Women's Project)
Steven Boyer, Hand to God (Ensemble Studio Theatre/Youngblood)
Sweet and Sad Ensemble: Jon DeVries, Shuler Hensley, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders, & J. Smith-Cameron (The Public Theater)
Gabriel Ebert and Mary Louise Wilson, 4000 Miles (Lincoln Center Theater)
Jim Fletcher, for Sustained Excellence
Santino Fontana, Sons of the Prophet (The Roundabout Theatre Company)
Linda Lavin, The Lyons (The Vineyard Theatre)
Susan Pourfar, Tribes (Barrow Street Theatre)

Playwriting
Kirsten Greenidge, Milk Like Sugar (Playwrights Horizons and the Women's Project)

Direction
Richard Maxwell, Early Plays (The Wooster Group and St. Ann's Warehouse)
Jay Scheib, World of Wires (The Kitchen)

Design
Mark Barton, for sustained excellence of lighting design
Mimi Lien, for sustained excellence of set design
Matt Tierney and Ben Williams, sound design, The Select (The Sun Also Rises) (New York Theatre Workshop)

Special Citations
Mark Bennett, Denis O'Hare, Lisa Peterson, & Stephen Spinella, An Iliad (New York Theatre Workshop)
Erin Courtney & Ken Rus Schmoll, A Map of Virtue (13P)
Elevator Repair Service, for Sustained Excellence
Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra, No Place to Go (The Public Theater/Joe's Pub)
Steven Hoggett, Martin Lowe, & John Tiffany, Once (New York Theatre Workshop)
Daniel Kitson, It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later (St. Ann's Warehouse)

Ross Wetzsteon Grant ($1,000)
Youngblood (Ensemble Studio Theatre)

Grants
The Bushwick Starr ($2,500)
The Debate Society ($2,500)

Lifetime Achievement
Caridad Svich