Photo credit: Ronald L. Glassman Photo caption: (left to right) Woodie King, Jr. (Producing Director of the New Federal Theatre and 1998 Otto awardee), Lenora B. Fulani (Co-Founder of the All Stars Project and Dean of UX), John O’Neal, 2012 Otto Award r
The 2012 honorees included: Ajoka Theatre, a Pakistan-based theatre, blending contemporary themes with traditional form; Hector Aristizábal, activist-artist using theatrical performance to end torture; John O'Neal, actor and director, co-founder of Free Southern Theater and Junebug Productions; Sistren Theatre Collective, an all-woman theatre collective based in Jamaica, using artistic expression to incite social change; and, Urban Bush Women, bringing the untold and under-told histories of disenfranchised people to light through dance.
The award itself is an original limited-edition sculpture created by the noted Brazilian contemporary artist and designer Sheila Goloborotko.
Past honorees include: Laurie Anderson, Joseph Chaikin, Kathleen Chalfant, LAByrinth Theater Company, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Ntozake Shange, the Steppenwolf Theater, Melvin Van Peebles, Douglas Turner Ward, and Robert Wilson, among many others.