A theater maker committed to creating new work in a collaborative process to push for radical change through her art is the second recipient of the new Hermitage Major Theatre Award.
Shariffa Ali, who was born in Kenya, raised in South Africa, and now lives in New York City, will receive a $35,000 commission to create a new work that will have its first presentation in a major theater center late next year.
Ali was chosen from among four theater artists selected as finalists by a prominent jury that includes two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (who is also nominated for two Tony Awards this season), Pulitzer Prize winner David Henry Hwang and critically acclaimed playwright and actress Regina Taylor.