Artists • Educators • Scholars • Students • Theatre Lovers

Winona Lee Fletcher Award Winners

BTN recognizes outstanding contributions to Black Theatre through the Winona Lee Fletcher Awards for Outstanding Achievement and Excellence in Black Theatre. Established in 1994 and named after the leading theatre educator, the award has been presented to the following:

2012
Pearl Cleage (playwriting)
Lou Bellamy (producing, directing and teaching) 

2010
Buddy Butler (education)
Adilah Barnes (producing/performance)

2008
Philip Rose, Producing
Sidney Poitier, Acting and Activism
Ruby Dee, Acting and Writing
Glynn Turman, Acting
Tyler Perry, Producing and Audience Development

2006
Ruth E. Carter (costume design-television and film)
Paul Tazewell (costume design-Broadway)
Myrna Colley-Lee (costume design-regional theatre)
Kathy Perkins (lighting design and scholarship)
Carlyle Brown (playwriting)

2004
Hattie Winston (acting and performance)
Harold Wheeler (musical composition, arranging and conducting)
Sandra Reeves Phillips (acting and singing)1994

2002
James Avery (film and television performance)
Felix Cochren (scenic and costume design)
Quentin Easter and Stanley Williams, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (producing)1996
Ed Burbridge (scenic design)

2000
Vinnie Burrows (acting & solo performance)
Thomas Pawley (scholarship and education)
St Louis Black Repertory Theatre1998

1998
James V. Hatch (research and scholarship)
Ted Shine (playwriting and education)
Lloyd Richards (directing and education)
August Wilson, (playwriting) 

1996
Ed Burbridge (scenic design)
Shirley Prendergast (lighting design)
George C. Wolfe (writing, directing and producing)

1994
Barbara Ann Teer (institution building)
Abena Joan Brown (producing),
Vinnette Carroll (directing),
Vivian Evans Robinson (audience development)
Ntozake Shange (writing for the theatre)
Dr. Margaret Wilkerson (scholarship)

Lifetime Membership Award Winners

Lifetime Membership is a distinguished honor of the Black Theatre Network, bestowed by the Executive Board. This honor recognizes an individual who has provided long and recognizable services to the organization.

2012  Lundeana Thomas, Carlton Molette and Barbara Molette
2010 Kathryn Ervin and Phillip Walker
2008 Judith Stephens Lorenz
2006 Lawrence and Regina Barclay
2004 Floyd Gaffney
2002 Sydney Best and Barbara Vojta
2000 Lucy M. Walker and J. W. Lewis
1998 Margaret Wilkerson
1996 Woodie King, Jr.
1994 Vernell Lillie
1992 Ethel Pitts-Walker
1991 Winona Fletcher

Presidential Pathfinder Award Winners

The BTN Presidential Pathfinder Award is presented to an artist or an institution that illuminates a path to innovations and new concepts in Black Theatre. This honor was first awarded by President Lundeana Thomas in 1996 to playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks.

2012 - Tarell Alvin McCraney
2010 - Daniel Banks & Adam McKinney, DNAWorks
2006 - Darrell Willis of the Dunbar Repertory Company
2004 - Karamu House and Ralph and Bonnie Greene with the Unity Theatre Ensemble
2002 - Elizabeth VanDyke and Will Power
2000 - Keith Antar Mason
1998 - Rhodessa Jones and Idris Ackamoor of Cultural Odyssey
1996 - Suzan-Lori Parks

BTN COMPETITIONS

The Young Scholars Competition

In honor of a pioneering black theater scholar and in the interest of encouraging research and scholarship in Black Theatre, BTN has sponsored The S. Randolph Edmonds Young Scholars Competition since 1988. The submitted papers are adjudicated by a panel of published scholars and the award winning writers are invited to present their work at the annual conference.

The Judy Dearing Design Competition

The Black Theatre Network established this award in 1996 in honored of pioneering costume designer Judy Dearing to encourage African American students of design. The awards are presented every other year with the other major awards.

BTN NATIONAL CONFERENCE SITES

2012 / Atlanta, GA
2011 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #11)
2010 / Los Angeles, CA
2009 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #10)
2008/Lake Buena Vista, FL (Walt Disney World)
2007/ Greensboro, NC (North Carolina A&T University)
2006 / Louisville, KY (University of Louisville African American Theatre Program)
2005 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #9)
2004 / Kent, OH (Kent State University)
2003 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #8)
2002 / San Francisco, CA
2001 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #7)
2000 / St. Louis, MO (St. Louis University)
1999 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #6)
1998 / Houston, TX (Ensemble Theatre Company)
1997 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #5)
1996 / New York NY
1995 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #4)
1994 / Chicago, IL
1993 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #3)
1992 / Detroit, MI
1991 / Winston-Salem, NC (NBTF #2)
1990 / Atlanta, GA (NBAF)
1989/ New York City (ATHE) & Winston-Salem, NC (National Black Theatre Festival -NBTF #1)
1988 / Atlanta, GA (Clark-Atlanta University & National Black Arts Festival-NBAF)
1987 / Baltimore, MD (NCAAT) & Chicago, IL (ATHE)
Founded - 1986 / New York City (National Education Theatre Conference)