NH Theatre Awards

Francis Grover Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award

We encourage re-nominating persons who did not already receive the award but were nominated previously.

Candidates will be chosen based upon the quality, scope and consistency of their positive influence upon theatre in the state. This is an award for a lifetime of service, though it does not imply that the person's contributions have ended or declined. The award was named for the founder of The Barnstormers Summer Theatre, the nation's oldest summer stock theatre company, still operating in Tamworth.

Nominations should include sufficient supporting documentation that the committee has a basis for consideration on the nominee.

If you would like to nominate someone for this special awards, please send nomination, supporting materials, write up, and nominee contact info to LifetimeAward@NHTheatreAwards.org

Some things the Operations Committee will be taking into consideration:

•     How has this person affected theatre as a whole?
•     What was the extent of the theatrical impact in NH?
•     How long has this person been making an impact in NH? Have they been doing it for longer periods of time?
•     Has the theatre contribution to the community been a positive one?
•     Has the theatre contribution changed the social fabric for the better?
•     Has the theatre contribution made a lasting impact on NH?

"Matty" Award for Vision and Tenacity

Candidates for this award will have demonstrated both the creativity to see the potential for a concept or project in the field of performing arts and will have advanced its development to the point that it is functional and has the resources required for it to be sustained.

The successful candidate will also have had to carry forth the project overcoming obstacles which might otherwise preclude it coming to fruition. Possible projects might include but are not limited to:

• The founding and successful running of a theater company
• Development or rehabilitation of a physical performance space
• Development of new styles of performance, dance, vocality or stage craft (lighting, sound, set design, costuming)
• Projects which meet a community need or become a voice for social need (eg. theater for the disabled, blind or deaf)
• Theater education programs

If you would like to nominate someone for this special awards, please send nomination, supporting materials, write up, and contact info to VisionAward@NHTheatreAwards.org

This award was inspired by Matty Gregg, a New Hampshire Magazine employee whose zeal and energy was the necessary ingredient to make the first New Hampshire Theatre Awards competition and awards night a success.

Children's and Youth Theatre Award

Candidates are leaders who have made remarkable contributions to the involvement, inspiration and achievement of young actors and theatrical artists. This is an award for a person, not a company, though often the two are indistinguishable from the point of view of the community in which they operate. It's also possible that the best candidate has no one organization to his or her credit and is still viewed as an inspirational or transformative leader.

If you would like to nominate someone for this special awards, please send nomination, supporting materials, write up, and nominee contact info to ChildrensAward@NHTheatreAwards.org

This award recognizes an individual who conducts a children or youth program, that is remarkable for the quality of work produced or for the challenges overcome in theatrical productions.

In order to recognize all those special unsung people who make theatre "happen" but are ineligible for the standard "adjudicated" awards, the NHTA has implemented the "Theate Hero" award.

Participating NHTA theatre companies select one of their own whom they deem deserving of acknowledment for their contributions to the company and theatre at large.  The individual companies can use whatever criteria and selection process they deem appropriate for selecting their siubmission for receipt of this recognition.

This is not a nomination process.  Nor is this adjudicated by the NHTA.  

ALL submissions (maximum of 1 per company per season) will be recognized.

 "Recognition of Excellence in Playwriting" replaced the Best Original Playwright Award. 

This award was created to acknowledge select playwrights who deserve recognition for exceptional work.

A committee commissioned by the NHTA is tasked with reading and assessing all eligible submissions.  This committee shall consist of three (3) NHTA Board members and two (2) members-at-large selected at random from volunteers submitted by participating theatre companies.   The committee can choose to recognize as few or as many original playwrights as it deems worthy in a given season.

Only scripts of plays submitted for adjudication in the award season will be considered and reviewed.  To be eligible, the producing company must provide a pdf file of the script and a cd or other recording of the music (if applicable) to the NH Theatre Awards prior to opening night of the production.