The Black Theatre Network Awards and Competitions
The Black Theatre Network Awards and Competitions supports and recognizes different facets of Black Theatre, from innovative performance to costume, lighting and set design, to scholarly contributions.
Awards
The Black Theatre Network Awards honors the brilliance, creativity, and legacy of Black Theatre artists and scholars. From prestigious lifetime achievement awards to exciting student competitions in design, monologues, and research, we celebrate the talent shaping the future of Black Theatre.
The Larry Leon Hamlin Legacy Award
Named in honor of the founder of the National Black Theatre Festival® (NBTF), the award will be presented biennially to an individual who “accepts the challenge to sustain and enrich the vision of the founder of an established institution devoted to the development of black culture.”
Larry Leon Hamlin (1948-2007) founded the National Black Theatre Festival® in 1989 to unite black theatre companies in America and ensure the genre’s survival.
K. Zaheerah Sultan Executive Director, BTN and 2022 Pathfinder Award Winner Ron Simons
Presidential Pathfinder Award
The BTN Presidential Pathfinder Award is presented to an artist or institution that illuminates a path to innovations and new concepts in Black Theatre.
President Lundeana Thomas first awarded this honor to playwright Suzan-Lori Parks in 1996.
Winona Lee Fletcher Award
Winona Lee Fletcher Award (1926 – 2023) 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.
Lifetime Membership Award
Lifetime Membership is a distinguished honor bestowed by the Executive Board of the Black Theatre Network.
It recognizes an individual who has provided long and recognizable services to the organization.
Black Theatre Network Young Artists Competitions
S. Randolph Edmonds Young Scholars Competition
Shepperd Randolph Edmonds (1900- 1983) was a pioneering black theater scholar who was interested in scholarship and research in Black Theater.
Black Theatre Network has sponsored the S. Randolph Edmonds Young Scholars Competition since 1988.
Judy Dearing Design Competition
The Judy Dearing Student Design Competition is presented in memory of distinguished costume designer Judy Dearing. Judy Dearing (1940–1995) was an African American costume designer, dancer, choreographer and educator.
She is most well-known for costumes that covered a wide range of theatre and musical productions.
Student Monologue Competition
The BTN Monologue Competition will offer young actors a platform to showcase their talent, enhance their performance skills, and foster a spirit of collaboration.
Additionally, it will nurture new, excellent, and visionary theatre professionals.