M rgaretElizabeth (Betty) Osborn, (born in Rome, Georgia on February 19, 1941; died in Virginia in 1993, age 52), was a playwright, author, theater director, critic, editor, and educator. From the 1980s to early 1990s, she was a prominent member of the

American Theatre Critics Association The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) is the only nationwide professional association of theatre critics in the United States. The ATCA membership consists of theatre critics who write reviews and critiques of live theatre for print, broa ...

(ATCA). She worked for the Theater Communications Group (TCG). Osborn grew up in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, and graduated from college

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. Her work on behalf of emerging playwrights has been honored since her death by ATCA's establishment of the ''M. Elizabeth Osborn Award''. It is granted annually to a promising new American dramatist.

Dramaturg in Virginia

Osborn received her PhD in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. In the 1970s, she was an assistant professor of theatre at

St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Fun ...

. While on leave she was accepted as a student of directing in the Virginia Museum Theater Conservatory. From that base, she helped to pioneer the resident professional theater movement in Richmond, where she served as a "Dramaturg"—at the time a relatively new position in American regional theatre—of the Repertory Company of the Virginia Museum Theater (VMT).

"Betty-O," a supportive critic

In the 1980s, Osborn moved to New York City to join the staff of

Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, us ...

(TCG), where she focused on editing and criticism. She was known to friends as "Betty-O". In her capacity as a theater critic, Osborn leaned away from the acerbic and caustic, toward support and encouragement. She was always highly appreciative of theater artists, as typified by her letter in tribute to her colleague, the late director

John Hirsch John Stephen Hirsch, OC (; May 1, 1930 – August 1, 1989) was a Hungarian-Canadian theatre director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary to József and Ilona Hirsch, both of whom were murdered in the Holocaust along with his younger brother I ...

in the ''New York Times''. Osborn was especially known for promoting and fostering little-known playwrights. She used her influence to encourage major directors and playhouses to produce their works more frequently and consistently.

Support of traditionally marginalized voices and works in theater

From the 1980s to her death in the early '90s, Osborn sought to bring attention to marginalized theater voices. Her emphasis on new plays by

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

authors and on dramatic works dealing with the AIDS crisis is expressed in her critical anthologies. Her book ''On New Ground'' focused on late-20th century Latino playwrights.

Writings on the effects of AIDS on American stage theater

Osborn showed how American theatre artists confronted the plague of AIDS in her book ''The Way We Live Now''.

M. Elizabeth Osborn Award

The M. Elizabeth Osborn Award was established in 1993 by the American Theater Critics Association (ATCA) to honor Osborn by continuing her mission of recognizing outstanding but little known authors. Colleagues recall how she would politely but persistently urge producers to mount productions of untried authors. The prize includes a monetary grant. The "Osborn" is conferred on a new American playwright at the

Humana Festival of New American Plays Humana Festival of New American Plays was an internationally renowned festival which celebrated the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, the festival showcased new theatrical ...

held each year at the

Actors Theater of Louisville Actors Theatre of Louisville is a non-profit performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Actors Theatre was founded in 1964 following the merging of two local companies, Actors, Inc. and Theatre Louisville, operated by Louis ...

.Complete List of Osborn Award Winners, http://americantheatrecritics.org/osborn-new-play-award/ Seattle-based playwright Keri Healey was the 2013 Osborn Award winner, honored for her play ''Torso.'' Darren Canady, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas (now a full professor), received the award in 2012 for his play about rural African-American life, ''Brothers of the Dust''. Canady expressed gratitude on the KU web site, saying that the Osborn Award brought national recognition to his very personal writing: "I grew up hearing, seeing, and listening to family stories that were only told if they could be performed with as much blood, life, exuberance, and expressiveness as possible." http://archive.news.ku.edu/2012/april/19/canady.shtml Among other Osborn laureates are

Rebecca Gilman Rebecca Claire Gilman (born 1964 or 1965) is an American playwright. Education Gilman attended Middlebury College, graduated from Birmingham-Southern College, and earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop at the Universit ...

, Los Angeles author

Dan O'Brien Daniel Dion O'Brien (born July 18, 1966) is an American former decathlete and Olympic gold medalist. He won the Olympic title in 1996, three consecutive world championships (1991, 1993, 1995), and set the world record in 1992. Early life ...

, and Brooklyn playwright J.T. Rogers.

Books

* Osborn, M. Elizabeth (Editor), ''The Way We Live Now: American Plays and the AIDS Crisis'', plays by

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

Christopher Durang Christopher Ferdinand Durang (January 2, 1949 – April 2, 2024) was an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in th ...

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed". Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwrigh ...

Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...

Harry Kondoleon Harry Kondoleon was a gay American playwright and novelist. He was born on February 26, 1955. He died of AIDS' companion infections in New York City on March 16, 1994, aged 39.David Greenspan, and

Paula Vogel Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright. She is known for her provocative explorations of complex social and political issues. Much of her work delves into themes of psychological trauma, abuse, and the complexities of hum ...

. Paperback, 304 pages, Published January 1, 1990, by Theatre Communications Group, ; Lambda Literary Foundation Award for AIDS (1990) *Osborn (Author), ''On New Ground: contemporary Hispanic-American plays'', Paperback, 288 pages, Published December 1, 1987, by Theatre Communications Group *Osborn (Author), ''John Hirsch at Yale'', Duke University Press, doi: 10.1215/01610775-21-1_and_2-120 Theater 1990 Volume 21, Number 1 *Osborn (Author), ''Dramatists Sourcebook'', 1986–87'', Theatre Communications Group, December 1986,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, M. Elizabeth 1941 births 1993 deaths American theater critics American women theatre critics 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators University of Pennsylvania alumni St. Mary's College of Maryland faculty 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers Dramaturges Writers from Gainesville, Florida People from Rome, Georgia Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)