Oppenheimer Award

The Oppenheimer Award was named after the late playwright and Newsday drama critic George Oppenheimer. It was awarded annually to the best New York debut production by an American playwright for a non-musical play. The selection committee has included playwrights Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, James Lapine, and Richard Greenberg. The award carries a $5,000 cash prize. The first award of $1,000, to the play Getting Out by Marsha Norman, was made in 1979, two years after Oppenheimer's death. It was discontinued in 2007.