The 2018 Idea Awards for Theatre

The Bret Adams & Paul Reisch Foundation named Christopher Chen the recipient of the inaugural Ollie Award, given to an emerging theatre artist of great talent and extraordinary potential.

The award was awarded to Chen at The Players Club  on September 24, 2018.

All photos by Valerie Caviness Photography for The Bret Adams & Paul Reisch Foundation.

About the Winner:

Christopher Chen is an Obie award-winning playwright whose full-length works have been produced and developed across the United States and abroad, at companies such as the American Conservatory Theater, Arcola Theatre, Berkeley Rep/Ground Floor, Finborough Theatre, Lark Play Development Center, Long Wharf Theatre, Playwrights Foundation, Playwrights Horizons, Rep at St. Louis, San Francisco Playhouse, Seattle Rep, The Play Company, Sundance Theatre Lab, Theatre Mu, The Vineyard and The Wilma. Chris's play Passage will have its New York Premiere in April of 2019, with direction from Saheem Ali.

Chen's other full-length works include Caught, The Hundred Flowers Project, Into The Numbers, and You Mean To Do Me Harm, currently running at San Francisco Playhouse until November 3rd. He is a 2017 Obie Award Winner, co-winner of the 2017 Lanford Wilson Award, and is under commission from Aurora Theatre, LCT3, Manhattan Theatre Club, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Royal Shakespeare Company, and The Wilma.