Standing ovation award
presented by theater masters
ABE KOOGLER
On behalf of Theater Masters, I am delighted and honored to announce Abe Koogler as our inaugural Standing Ovation Award recipient for 2024!
Abe Koogler stands out as a truly deserving recipient of the inaugural Standing Ovation Award. Abe has been a part of all the theater masters programs, starting as a 2012 Take Ten participant, next as 2013 Visionary and then in 2017 he served as theater masters National Adjudicator. It’s been a privilege to have gotten to know Abe and have been part of his odyssey, watching with enthusiasm the growth of his craft.
I conceived of and created this new award so we could be a part of sustaining writers as whole individuals — to give real support to gifted writers and applaud and champion them along their journeys. (Which we know is a marathon journey, not a sprint — and we want to be there at all stages!)
Starting in 2024 the Standing Ovation Award will be given to a talented playwright making ambitious and innovative work. Our goal is to reward hard working playwrights with longstanding track records in the industry, helping to further bolster their artistic endeavors.
The award will also be accompanied by a monetary prize to support the work and life of the selected playwright. We want playwrights to have the resources to create the kind of work that speaks to them, in the way they want to create it.
We are thrilled to shine a light on this immensely gifted and thoughtful writer, and lovely human being —whose work has been described as “ steeped in a luminous and illuminating empathy that feels both uncommon and essential right now.” — Ben Brantley.
Indeed.
His plays have consistently shown a combination of gravitas and humor with sympathetic renderings of idiosyncratic and often bruised characters, heartbreakingly searching for connection in a complex world. To give you an even deeper look at Abe’s artistry and impact, we have included a series of heartfelt testimonials from folks who have worked with Abe and know him as the multifaceted and remarkable human being that he is!
His new play “Staff Meal” is premiering this spring at Playwrights Horizons, and we can’t wait to go. As a long-time Theater Masters playwright and alumni, Koogler embodies the spirit of our organization's mission, having contributed significantly to the enrichment of the theatrical landscape. This award not only recognizes his past achievements but also anticipates the continued brilliance he will bring to the stage. We look forward to celebrating his achievements and supporting the continued evolution of his impactful career.
Warmest wishes and congratulations, Abe!
Vicky Hansen, Executive Artistic Director
And all of us at Theater Masters!
Abe Koogler stands out as a truly deserving recipient of the inaugural Standing Ovation Award. Abe has been a part of all the theater masters programs, starting as a 2012 Take Ten participant, next as 2013 Visionary and then in 2017 he served as theater masters National Adjudicator. It’s been a privilege to have gotten to know Abe and have been part of his odyssey, watching with enthusiasm the growth of his craft.
I conceived of and created this new award so we could be a part of sustaining writers as whole individuals — to give real support to gifted writers and applaud and champion them along their journeys. (Which we know is a marathon journey, not a sprint — and we want to be there at all stages!)
Starting in 2024 the Standing Ovation Award will be given to a talented playwright making ambitious and innovative work. Our goal is to reward hard working playwrights with longstanding track records in the industry, helping to further bolster their artistic endeavors.
The award will also be accompanied by a monetary prize to support the work and life of the selected playwright. We want playwrights to have the resources to create the kind of work that speaks to them, in the way they want to create it.
We are thrilled to shine a light on this immensely gifted and thoughtful writer, and lovely human being —whose work has been described as “ steeped in a luminous and illuminating empathy that feels both uncommon and essential right now.” — Ben Brantley.
Indeed.
His plays have consistently shown a combination of gravitas and humor with sympathetic renderings of idiosyncratic and often bruised characters, heartbreakingly searching for connection in a complex world. To give you an even deeper look at Abe’s artistry and impact, we have included a series of heartfelt testimonials from folks who have worked with Abe and know him as the multifaceted and remarkable human being that he is!
His new play “Staff Meal” is premiering this spring at Playwrights Horizons, and we can’t wait to go. As a long-time Theater Masters playwright and alumni, Koogler embodies the spirit of our organization's mission, having contributed significantly to the enrichment of the theatrical landscape. This award not only recognizes his past achievements but also anticipates the continued brilliance he will bring to the stage. We look forward to celebrating his achievements and supporting the continued evolution of his impactful career.
Warmest wishes and congratulations, Abe!
Vicky Hansen, Executive Artistic Director
And all of us at Theater Masters!
Words Of Recognition
A compilation of genuine accolades from individuals who have collaborated with Abe and have experienced firsthand his multifaceted and exceptional talent!
Daniel Aukin
Obie Award Winning Director
Let’s consider that maybe we’re all lost.
And in those moments where we acknowledge it the least, maybe, more so.
How to get through the day, the hour, the moment.
And then there’s grace where we weren’t looking for it.
Was it always there?
Abe’s writing lives in the tense mystery of every moment and us in it.
Sure, there’s suffering. And also dignity, whole-heartedness and perfectly imperfect love, the real deal.
Impossible and joyous.
Plangent and unsentimental.
Funny? Yes. That too.
Abe’s got the moves.
He dances there.
Eboni Booth
Actress & Playwright
I first encountered Abe Koogler's writing as an actor. He created worlds and characters that felt like an actor's dream -- specific without being prescriptive, fully-dimensional yet mysterious, language-driven, hopeful and sad at the same time. I always thought that you could do a cold reading of one of Abe's plays and manage to hit the necessary marks -- he provided dialogue that allowed you to get in the car of the piece and just take the ride. And there was such an enormous fidelity to the truth in his work -- I would read or watch a scene and think, "I know that person." Or, "I've said that, too." Or, "How did Abe know that's why I've been thinking?" Now that I've been trying my hand at writing, now that I understand a little more about the skill, craft, patience, and care it takes to create something that feels alive, I am in awe of Abe's work even more. He is such a generous writer, offering parts of himself in his creations. He is a master at observation, mining our interpersonal hiccups and missteps for clues about how the world works. And he is a skillful craftsman, paying attention to structure in a way that makes all of his pieces feel distinct. Abe is part of my art family, and he is also one of the people I write for -- an imagined audience member whose heart and mind I want to take into account as I work.
Brittany Kallen
Playwright, Prosewright, and Actor
Abe's plays are exquisitely careful, honest, precise, incisive, musical, and—above all—compassionate. And so is he! His eyes and ears have a sweeping humanist quality, and I'm struck by the depth of his listening—as a writer attuned to many walks of human condition, yes, but also as a collaborator. I've admired his work for many years, but getting the chance to step into one of his plays last summer (Deep Blue Sound) was a tremendous, altering experience. Our room was full of soul and strangeness—precisely because we were held, at every turn, by Abe’s capacious vision of a community in the throes of quiet crisis and transformation. It was a singular, luminous treat of a process—one that raised the bar for all that follow. I can’t wait to see what he dreams into being next.
Krik Lynn
Playwright and Novelist
One of my favorite memories of working with Abe was a play he was working on called something like 30 under 30, about young artists all trying to win a prestigious award for young artists… It was so centered in the way we actually talked. Half sentences. Eeiei. Repetitions. No. So we would. Like class would read the scenes and become so conscious of our own language. We couldn’t talk after reading. Or we would laugh. We would hear ourselves. It was awful and amazing. And that’s one of Abe’s great gifts. He makes us aware of the actual world. Whether it is language or class or late capitalism. I am more present during and after time with Abe. I wish it didn’t wear off… Abe is also kind, to colleagues and teachers. We wrestled a lot over how to teach and how to be a student, but always with a love and respect at the center of it. Also, Abe wanted to be accountable to someone for writing a novel, so I invited him to slip ten pages of prose under my door each week with the promise I would never read those pages, but I would give him an F if he failed to fulfill his side of the bargain. Abe made an A and I have never looked at those pages, but I still have them.
Maria Striar & Michael Bulger
Artistic Director/Founder & Producing Director Clubbed Thumb
We are so delighted to know of the award you're giving Abe - who we met when he was graduating UT Austin and have kept up with ever since. It was especially rewarding to come together with him this summer to work on his play Deep Blue Sound, which was from start to finish a total joy. He understood completely what it meant to make a play with Clubbed Thumb, and approached that work with generosity, and an open mind and heart. Abe knows precisely what he is going for in his work - he cares deeply about the details - but he is also kind, curious and eager to collaborate. There’s a lonely, beautiful humanity in Abe’s writing, it’s vulnerable, and not blind to cruelty. He weaves the funny, the weird and the poetic to virtuosic effect. The seemingly intuitive and informal cadences of his language and structure are precise and rhythmic. Deep Blue Sound was a magic trick of the play - aided by the fact that his collaboration with Arin was so seamless. They disarmed the audience early on, giving us just enough information about these characters along the way - and then, quite suddenly, we see how it all adds up and we are left with a deep understanding of how truly marvelous it is to know and be among other people. Congratulations Abe! - Maria Striar & Michael Bulger, Clubbed Thumb
Daniel Aukin
Obie Award Winning Director
Let’s consider that maybe we’re all lost.
And in those moments where we acknowledge it the least, maybe, more so.
How to get through the day, the hour, the moment.
And then there’s grace where we weren’t looking for it.
Was it always there?
Abe’s writing lives in the tense mystery of every moment and us in it.
Sure, there’s suffering. And also dignity, whole-heartedness and perfectly imperfect love, the real deal.
Impossible and joyous.
Plangent and unsentimental.
Funny? Yes. That too.
Abe’s got the moves.
He dances there.
Eboni Booth
Actress & Playwright
I first encountered Abe Koogler's writing as an actor. He created worlds and characters that felt like an actor's dream -- specific without being prescriptive, fully-dimensional yet mysterious, language-driven, hopeful and sad at the same time. I always thought that you could do a cold reading of one of Abe's plays and manage to hit the necessary marks -- he provided dialogue that allowed you to get in the car of the piece and just take the ride. And there was such an enormous fidelity to the truth in his work -- I would read or watch a scene and think, "I know that person." Or, "I've said that, too." Or, "How did Abe know that's why I've been thinking?" Now that I've been trying my hand at writing, now that I understand a little more about the skill, craft, patience, and care it takes to create something that feels alive, I am in awe of Abe's work even more. He is such a generous writer, offering parts of himself in his creations. He is a master at observation, mining our interpersonal hiccups and missteps for clues about how the world works. And he is a skillful craftsman, paying attention to structure in a way that makes all of his pieces feel distinct. Abe is part of my art family, and he is also one of the people I write for -- an imagined audience member whose heart and mind I want to take into account as I work.
Brittany Kallen
Playwright, Prosewright, and Actor
Abe's plays are exquisitely careful, honest, precise, incisive, musical, and—above all—compassionate. And so is he! His eyes and ears have a sweeping humanist quality, and I'm struck by the depth of his listening—as a writer attuned to many walks of human condition, yes, but also as a collaborator. I've admired his work for many years, but getting the chance to step into one of his plays last summer (Deep Blue Sound) was a tremendous, altering experience. Our room was full of soul and strangeness—precisely because we were held, at every turn, by Abe’s capacious vision of a community in the throes of quiet crisis and transformation. It was a singular, luminous treat of a process—one that raised the bar for all that follow. I can’t wait to see what he dreams into being next.
Krik Lynn
Playwright and Novelist
One of my favorite memories of working with Abe was a play he was working on called something like 30 under 30, about young artists all trying to win a prestigious award for young artists… It was so centered in the way we actually talked. Half sentences. Eeiei. Repetitions. No. So we would. Like class would read the scenes and become so conscious of our own language. We couldn’t talk after reading. Or we would laugh. We would hear ourselves. It was awful and amazing. And that’s one of Abe’s great gifts. He makes us aware of the actual world. Whether it is language or class or late capitalism. I am more present during and after time with Abe. I wish it didn’t wear off… Abe is also kind, to colleagues and teachers. We wrestled a lot over how to teach and how to be a student, but always with a love and respect at the center of it. Also, Abe wanted to be accountable to someone for writing a novel, so I invited him to slip ten pages of prose under my door each week with the promise I would never read those pages, but I would give him an F if he failed to fulfill his side of the bargain. Abe made an A and I have never looked at those pages, but I still have them.
Maria Striar & Michael Bulger
Artistic Director/Founder & Producing Director Clubbed Thumb
We are so delighted to know of the award you're giving Abe - who we met when he was graduating UT Austin and have kept up with ever since. It was especially rewarding to come together with him this summer to work on his play Deep Blue Sound, which was from start to finish a total joy. He understood completely what it meant to make a play with Clubbed Thumb, and approached that work with generosity, and an open mind and heart. Abe knows precisely what he is going for in his work - he cares deeply about the details - but he is also kind, curious and eager to collaborate. There’s a lonely, beautiful humanity in Abe’s writing, it’s vulnerable, and not blind to cruelty. He weaves the funny, the weird and the poetic to virtuosic effect. The seemingly intuitive and informal cadences of his language and structure are precise and rhythmic. Deep Blue Sound was a magic trick of the play - aided by the fact that his collaboration with Arin was so seamless. They disarmed the audience early on, giving us just enough information about these characters along the way - and then, quite suddenly, we see how it all adds up and we are left with a deep understanding of how truly marvelous it is to know and be among other people. Congratulations Abe! - Maria Striar & Michael Bulger, Clubbed Thumb
