National TYA Awards
The National TYA Awards honor excellence in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences. Selected by a committee of peers from nominations made by TYA/USA members, awards are given annually at the TYA/USA National Festival & Conference.
2024 TYA/USA Award Recipients
Harold Oaks Award for Sustained Excellence in TYA: Deborah Wicks La Puma
A composer, music director and orchestrator, Deborah Wicks La Puma is one of the most produced Theatre for Young Audiences artists working today. Some of her most popular musicals include ELLA ENCHANTED (based on the book by Gail Carson Levine), OLIVERIO: A BRAZILIAN TWIST, and EINSTEIN IS A DUMMY with playwright Karen Zacarías, and the off-broadway hit SHE PERSISTED (based on the book by Chelsea Clinton) with playwright Adam Tobin.
TYA Artistic Innovation Award: Hiawatha Project
Hiawatha Project’s mission is to create original performances exploring specific social questions through myth, free association, and movement. Hiawatha’s immersive tactile plays “Buoyant Sea” and “My Traveling Song” were created as symbiotic experiences for young children ages 1-5 and their grown-ups with song, story, participatory play and elevated design, and were co-presented with The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust in sold-out world premieres.
TYA Community Impact Award: ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence
ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence calls on teens to confront gun violence by creating new works of theatre that will spark critical conversations and inspire meaningful action in communities across the country. ENOUGH!’s mission is to promote playwriting as a tool for self-expression and social change, harnessing this generation’s spirit of activism and providing a platform for America’s playwrights of tomorrow to discover and develop their voices today. More than 140 organizations have participated in ENOUGH!’s three previous Nationwide Readings (2020, 2022, and 2023) to bring these plays to their community, involving nearly 3,000 artists and reaching more than 14,000 people.
The awards were presented in a joint awards ceremony with the Childrens Theatre Foundation of America on March 15th, 2024 as part of the 2024 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference.
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The National TYA/USA Awards honor excellence in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences.
Selected by a committee of peers from nominations made by TYA/USA members, awards are given annually in the following categories:
The Harold Oaks Award for Sustained Excellence in TYA
This award honors the achievements of individual leaders and companies that have made a significant and lasting impact on the field of TYA.
The TYA Artistic Innovation Award
This award honors an individual or company for a single TYA production that has demonstrated innovation and experimentation in content or in form from the current and most recent season.
The TYA Community Impact Award
This award honors an individual or company that has demonstrated community impact through an education program or community engagement initiative related to TYA. Awardees utilize the power of TYA to significantly enrich a surrounding community in creative and meaningful ways. Programs or initiatives honored take place in the current and/or two most recent seasons.
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Previous Awardees
2023
The Harold Oaks Award for Sustained Excellence in TYA: Julia Flood
TYA Artistic Innovation Award: Brave Little Company
TYA Community Impact Award: Caitlyn McCain
2019
The Harold Oaks Award for Sustained Excellence in TYA: Stan Foote & Rosemary Newcott
TYA Artistic Innovation Award: Chicago Children’s Theatre
TYA Community Impact Award: Courtney J. Boddie
2018
The Harold Oaks Award for Sustained Excellence in TYA: Deirdre Kelly Lavrakas & Kim Peter Kovac
TYA Artistic Innovation Award: Drew Petersen
TYA Community Impact Award: Cry Havoc Theater Company
2017
Organization: Stages Theatre Company
Individual: Janet Stanford, Imagination Stage
2016
Organization: Children’s Theatre of Charlotte
Individual: Megan Alrutz, UT Austin
Special Award: Linda Hartzell (Seattle Children’s Theatre) and David Saar (Childsplay) in celebration of their contributions to the field as they retire from their Artistic Directorships of their respective companies.
2015
Organization: Adventure Theatre MTC
Individual: Gayle Sergel, Dramatic Publishing
2014
Organization: Metro Theatre Company, St. Louis
Individual: Scot Copeland, Nashville Children’s Theatre
2013
Organization: People’s Light & Theatre Company
Individual: Joette Pelster, The Coterie
About Harold Oaks
Harold Oaks was President of ASSITEJ International (1999-2002); President of ASSITEJ/USA (1988-1995); President, The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (1987-88); and has been an officer of the National Association of Schools of Theatre; The American Theatre Association and The Children’s Theatre Association of America.
Dr. Oaks is an emeritus Professor of Theatre at Brigham Young University where he was Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts & Communications and Coordinator of the Drama/Theatre for Young People program. He chaired the BYU Department of Theatre & Film for twelve years. He has also taught and directed at colleges and universities in Minnesota, Maryland, Nebraska and Colorado.
He has directed more than forty-five plays, including performances at festivals in the US, Norway, Austria, and the former Yugoslavia. He has written over one hundred articles, reviews and publications and edited Outstanding Plays for Young Audiences International Bibliography, Volumes 2-6. He was also founding editor of ASSITEJ International Hot Line with circulation to seventy-two international centers, five times a year.
He continues to serve young people throughout the world creating puppet shows that teach about substance abuse and hygiene. They have been translated into over seventeen languages and used in over twenty-five countries.