Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tony Kushner is coming to The University of Toledo Tuesday, Sept. 20, in a free moderated conversation about his life and career followed by an audience Q&A.
Best known for “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” his two-part epic about the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s which received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Awards for Best Play in 1993 and 1994, Kushner will share his story at the annual Edward Shapiro Distinguished Lecture 7 p.m. at Doermann Theatre in University Hall.
Kushner. Photo by Bryan Derballa.
Admission to the event is free. Doors open at 6 p.m. with first-come, first-served seating. Parking will be free in Area 1N off of University Hills Boulevard.
“The College of Arts and Letters is so pleased to be able to bring such an important figure to the campus community and the city of Toledo,” said Dr. Melissa Gregory, interim dean of the College of Arts and Letters. “Kushner is not only the most well-recognized playwright in the United States but also a brilliant storyteller who brings a wealth of fascinating experiences to the table. This will be a highly engaging event.”
The annual lecture is made possible by the Shapiro endowment left by Dr. Edward Shapiro, professor emeritus of economics who retired in 1989, to provide opportunities for the University to bring world-renowned speakers to Toledo.
Past Shapiro Distinguished Lecture speakers include Elie Wiesel, Toni Morrison, Audra McDonald and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Born in New York City in 1956 and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Kushner is a celebrated and acclaimed playwright whose works include “A Bright Room Called Day,” “Slavs!”, “Hydrotaphia” and “Homebody/Kabul,” as well as the musical “Caroline, or Change” and the opera “A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck.”
Kushner received an Emmy Award for his adaptation of “Angels in America” to an HBO miniseries directed by Mike Nichols and received a pair of screenwriting Oscar nominations for the Steven Spielberg films “Munich” and “Lincoln.” In 2021, he wrote the screenplay to Spielberg’s critically acclaimed remake of “West Side Story.”
Kushner also received a Spirit of Justice Award from the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, and a Cultural Achievement Award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.
