The Tony Awards announced Monday that TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will receive the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award on the recommendation of the American Theatre Critics Association.
The non-competitive honorary award, which generally recognizes excellence in incubating new productions, includes a $25,000 grant. The news comes as Robert Kelley, TheatreWorks’ founding artistic director, launches his 50th and final season with the company he created as a new Stanford University graduate in 1970.
“I can think of no better way to begin TheatreWorks’s 50th Anniversary Season than with this highest honor, a testament to the passion and imaginative spirit of the artists whose work has been presented on TheatreWorks’s stages,” Kelley said in a statement. “There is a joy here, a warmth to the creative process that many have found inspiring. For me, that joy has been worth a lifetime.”
In a joint statement, Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin and American Theatre Wing president Heather Hitchens lauded TheatreWorks for celebrating the human spirit.
“They have helped develop hundreds of vibrant new plays and musicals that are now being performed in theaters across America, and they have pioneered education programs that inspire thousands of students each year, creating future generations of creative artists and enthusiastic audiences,” said St. Martin and Hitchens.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley produced 13 wholly original works in its first three years, staging them in unconventional venues, including warehouses, basements and a parking garage. The company developed a reputation for diverse programming and savvy use of a limited budget.
