Ken LaZebnik Wins ATCA’s Osborn Prize

Ken LaZebnik has won the American Theatre Critics Association 2006 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for an emerging playwright for his play Vestibular Sense.

The Osborn Award, established in 1993, carries a $1,000 cash prize and receives recognition in the annual Best Plays Theater Yearbook. It is given annually to the work of an author whose plays have not yet received a major production. Last year’s winner, Steven Tomlinson’s American Fiesta, will be seen next month at the Vineyard Theatre.

Vestibular Sense — which is also a finalist for ATCA’s annual New Play Award — received its initial production in November at the Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis. The 90-minute work explores the reality of life as an autistic adult.

LaZebnik’s previous plays include League of Nations and Calvinisms. His many film and television credits, as writer and producer, include Star Trek: Enterprise, A Prairie Home Companion, Touched by an Angel, and Providence. He also serves as the artistic director of the Stephens College School of Performing Arts in Columbia, Missouri.