Denzel Washington To Receive New Dramatists’ 2018 Distinguished Achievement Award

Denzel Washington, about to hit the Broadway stage in George C. Wolfe’s production of The Iceman Cometh, will receive New Dramatists’ 2018 Distinguished Achievement Award, an honor that’s previously gone to such stage artists as Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, Edward Albee, Meryl Streep and Stephen Sondheim, among others.


The award will be presented to the Oscar- and Tony-winning actor at New Dramatists’ 69th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute on May 15 in New York.


“Mr. Washington has earned his career status through hard-work and excellence,” said Emily Morse, Artistic Director of New Dramatists. “He’s a professional actor who continues to pursue artistic and career challenges, like undertaking the plays of August Wilson, an alumnus of New Dramatists, and Eugene O’Neill, for example, and it’s his fearless risk-taking that connects him to what the playwrights working at New Dramatists and the collaborators who support their processes seek every day.”


Morse called Washington “a respected, consummate artist, and for this reason we wish to honor him at this year’s luncheon.”


In addition to his screen career – Glory, Training Day, Remember the Titans, A Soldier’s Story and last year’s Roman J. Israel, Esq., among many others – Washington won a 2010 Tony Award for his performance in August Wilson’s Fences (he later reprised the role in the 2016 film version, which he also directed).


The Distinguished Achievement Award is presented to individuals who have made an outstanding artistic contribution to the theatre community. The award will be presented to Washington at the annual New Dramatists’ luncheon, May 15, at the New York Marriott Marquis in the Broadway theater district.


The Iceman Cometh begins previews March 22 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, with an official opening April 26.