Recipients of the Henry Hewes Design Award Honors, recognizing artistry on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway stages for the 2021–2022 season, were announced September 28.
Honorees include Adam Rigg for their scenic design for The Skin of Our Teeth, Lincoln Center Theater; Dede Ayite for her costume design for Merry Wives, New York Shakespeare Festival in the Park; Kathy A. Perkins for her lighting design for Trouble in Mind, Roundabout Theatre Company; Mikaal Sulaiman for his sound design for Sanctuary City, New York Theatre Workshop; David Bengali for his media design for Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Signature Theatre; and James Ortiz for his puppetry design for The Skin of Our Teeth, Lincoln Center Theater.
This year's recipients will be celebrated October 24 at the 58th Annual Henry Hewes Design Awards, which will stream live.
“We are pleased to announce the HHDA Honorees for the 2021-2022 theatre seasons,” said Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, chair of the awards committee. “We are delighted to celebrate the design community and applaud the determination, creativity, and dedication of all theatre designers who have persevered through difficult times and are now poised to help lead the theatre into the future. These honorees and their achievements are wonderful examples of what lies ahead.”
For the 2022 honors, 94 theatre designers were nominated for outstanding artistry in 60 productions. Rigg led all artists with four nominations. The Skin of Our Teeth led all productions with six nominations. Click here for the complete list of 2022 nominees.
The Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee includes theatre critics Jenkins, chair; David Barbour; David Cote; Naveen Kumar; Helen Shaw; and Martha Wade Steketee. Brittani Samuel observed the committee’s 2022 deliberations and now serves as a full voting member. The awards are sponsored by the Henry Hewes Foundation for the Theater Arts.
Known as the Maharam Awards at their inception in 1965, the Hewes Awards were later renamed the American Theatre Wing Design Awards in honor of the Wing’s sponsorship. In 1999, they became the Henry Hewes Design Awards in honor of critic Henry Hewes, who created the awards and served as a board member of the American Theatre Wing until his death in 2006 at age 89.
