Playwrights Fugard and Ensler to get special Tonys

[April 07, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Playwrights Athol Fugard and Eve Ensler will receive special honors at this year's Tony Awards.

Fugard, the South African author of "'Master Harold'... and the Boys" and "The Road to Mecca," will get a lifetime achievement award.

Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues," will receive the Isabelle Stevenson Award, which honors members of the theater community for their humanitarian efforts.

Tony Award nominations will be announced May 3. The awards ceremony is set for June 12.

Other awards announced Wednesday include a lifetime achievement award to Philip J. Smith, chairman of the Shubert Organization.

Tony honors for excellence in the theater were given to animal trainer Bill Berloni, The Drama Book Shop in Times Square, and Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.

[Associated Press]

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