Humana Festival of New American Plays
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The internationally renowned Humana Festival of New American Plays celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this prestigious event showcases new theatrical works and draws producers, critics, playwrights and theatre lovers from around the world. The Humana Festival is made possible by the generosity of The Humana Foundation. The festival was founded in 1976 by Jon Jory, Actors Theatre Producing Director from 1969 to 2000.
Actors has produced over 300 Humana Festival plays (short pieces, ten-minute plays, one-acts, and full-lengths) representing the works of more than 200 playwrights.
Over three-fourths of the Humana Festival plays have been published in twenty-eight Actors Theatre anthologies as well as individual acting editions, making a visible and vital contribution to American dramatic literature.
Three Humana Festival plays have won the Pulitzer Prize: The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn, Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley and Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies. Keely and Du by Jane Martin was a finalist.
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Humana Festival plays have won many prestigious awards including the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Pen Center USA West Award, The Kesselring Prize, the Obie Award and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award.
More than 2,000 scripts are received annually for consideration in the New Play Program. Nearly 75,000 scripts have been submitted since 1976.
The Humana Foundation first sponsored the Humana Festival during the 1979–80 season. During the 1981–82 season, the festival was renamed the Humana Festival of New American Plays in honor of the Louisville-based company's ongoing and generous support. As the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc., The Humana Foundation identifies, funds and nurtures projects and organizations in three fields: domestic and international health, education and arts, and civic developments where the company has a meaningful presence.
Over 30 foreign countries are represented in the audience at the festival each year.
Over 90 million Americans have seen additional productions of the many plays originated in the Humana Festival, not including film and television audiences who have seen Humana plays adapted for the screen.
Actors' New Play Program encompasses the Humana Festival of New American Plays, the National Ten-Minute Play Contest and ongoing contact with hundreds of playwrights.
The Heideman Award was established in 1979. Made possible by the late Louisvillian Ted Heideman, the $1,000 cash prize is bestowed annually upon the winners of the National Ten-Minute Play Contest (1989–2005), which evolved from the national One-Act Play Contest (1979–1989).
Each year of the Humana Festival's first decade (1976–1986), The Great American Play Contest awarded cash prizes for two full-length scripts produced in the Humana Festival.
