Playwright Zach Barr has won the 2026 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for their play The Pilon, which had its world premiere at Red Theater. The Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award recognizes an outstanding script premiering in a professional production of a play outside of New York City.
Red Theater presented the critically lauded world premiere production of The Pilon, directed by Jessica Love, in October and November of 2025. Zach Barr comments, “The Pilon is, above all, a love letter: to transgender people, to sports fans, and to my hometown of Seattle.”
Previous awardees of ATCA’s new play award include August Wilson, Horton Foote, Lynne Nottage, Moises Kaufmann, Lauren Yee, and Branden Jacobs Jenkins, who was the 2025 award recipient for his play Purpose. The 2026 awards presentation was held on Saturday, May 2nd during the Pacific Playwrights Festival, hosted by South Coast Repertory. The Steinberg/ATCA Award carries a $25,000 honorarium.
In Zach’s words, “I’m shocked and overwhelmed that The Pilon has been honored with this award. I hope this is seen as a win not just for myself and Red Theater, but for all of Chicago’s storefront theatre scene, and everyone developing new plays at the non-Equity level. Incredible work is happening even in the smallest spaces, and for this play to be plucked from obscurity and so generously recognized is gratifying beyond measure.”
The Pilon was Red’s fifth premiere from a living playwright since returning to production in 2022. Their production featured Delia Kropp as Rhonda, Rio Soliz Ragazzone as Corbin, Jo Tannous as Lex, Josh Razavi as Marc, and Harper Levander as Griffey, understudied by Kailen Lee, RJ Cecott, Elijah Cox, Ryan Finn and Silas Smith, and was produced by artistic directors Clare Brennan and Wyatt Kent. The Pilon was a Semi-Finalist with Seven Devils New Play Foundry in 2024 and 2025. It also received a reading through The Understudy Coffee & Books’ Freshly Brewed series in 2025.
On the production, the Chicago Reader’s Kerry Reid wrote that, “really good playwrights know how to take the arcana of a specialized world and make it feel universal and immediate. Based on The Pilon, now in a terrific world premiere with Red Theater, Zach Barr is such a playwright.”
The ATCA stated, “The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg on behalf of himself and his late wife. Pursuing its primary mission to support the American theater, it has provided grants totaling millions of dollars for new productions of American plays and educational programs for those who may not ordinarily experience live theater.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Zach Barr | PLAYWRIGHT – Zach (they/them) is a nonbinary multidisciplinary theatre artist. Their play Quinlyn Can Paint recently debuted at Black Cat Theatre, and their adaptation of Winnie-the-Pooh will debut at Talespinner Children’s Theatre in December. They’ve completed residencies with Three Brothers Theatre and Filament Theatre, and have had work developed by Valdez Theatre Conference, Bramble Theatre Company, and Fat Theatre Project. Zach serves as Literary Manager at Red Theater and an Artistic Associate at Refracted Theatre Company, curating new play reading series for both (“Script Club” and “Role Call”). Additionally, Zach is the creator of the theatre history video essay series "And Now They Sing" on YouTube, and recently directed Cats for Studio East (Kirkland, WA). Find them on NPX. @admiralzachbarr
ABOUT RED THEATER
Red Theater’s mission is to make theater by putting people first. Founded in 2013, Red’s productions have included 10 Chicago premieres and 9 world premieres. We work from our core values of radical transparency, community care, and meaningful experience. These ideals drive us to bring access to theater to anyone who wants it, with an intentional focus on those restricted by financial and physical disability. Red Theater is funded in part by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Clinton Family Fund, and the Illinois Arts Council. www.redtheater.org