Playwright and director Radha Blank has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the newly established Hermitage Major Theater Award.

Funded by support from the Kutya Major Foundation, the Hermitage Major Theater Award will grant Blank with a $35,000 cash prize to create a new work, as well as a residency at the Hermitage in Sarasota County, Florida, and a developmental workshop in New York. The prize is jury-selected, with this year's committee including Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright Doug Wright and Tony-nominated directors Leigh Silverman and Liesl Tommy.

“I am thrilled to receive this kind of support from the theatre-making community, and honored to be the first recipient of this awesome award,” said Blank. “This recognition is very affirming. This commission answers the question: how can I continue to do my work and not jump into a system that is constantly asking me to conform and change who I am? Having a destination and an actual place and community to create is a gift. I don't take it lightly. I really appreciate this.”

Blank has written for the television series Empire and Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. She recently made her feature film debut with The Forty-Year-Old Version on Netflix. Her play Seed premiered in 2011 at National Black Theater and won a Helen Merrill Award.