Playwrights Jeremy O. Harris, Matthew Lopez to Receive HRC Honors

Two groundbreaking young gay playwrights will receive the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Award at the organization's New York City gala dinner February 1.

They each have an acclaimed show running on Broadway. Jeremy O. Harris is the author of Slave Play, which deals with race, gender, and power. Matthew Lopez is the author of The Inheritance, an epic look at modern LGBTQ life, inspired by E.M. Forster's novel Howards End.

The organization announced Monday morning that it is honoring the two playwrights in addition to already announced awardees Kristin Chenoweth, who will receive the Ally for Equality Award; Naomi Campbell, recipient of the Global Advocacy Award; and PVH Corp., receiving the HRC Corporate Equality Award.

"Jeremy O. Harris's brilliant Slave Play is a compelling and raw exploration of race, sex, gender and identity," HRC President Alphonso David said in a press release. "A vital voice for the LGBTQ community, Harris constantly challenges us to rethink the power dynamics within all of our relationships and how our shared past influences our present struggle for justice. We are honored to award Jeremy O. Harris with our Equality Award for his work on and off Broadway."

"Matthew Lopez's sweeping, groundbreaking play The Inheritance tells the important story of LGBTQ life in the 21st century, while paying homage to our rich, diverse history," David added. "For telling this story so powerfully,and for his contributions to the LGBTQ community, it is a true honor for HRC to present Matthew Lopez with the Equality Award."

Harris's other plays include Daddy, Xander Xyst, Dragon: 1, and Water Sports; or Insignificant White Boys. He cowrote A24's upcoming film Zola with director Janicza Bravo and will adapt Ales Kot's 2019 graphic novel The New World for Warner Bros. In television, he is developing a pilot with HBO and consults on its hit series Euphoria. He is the 11th recipient of the Vineyard Theatre's Paula Vogel Playwrighting Award, a 2016 MacDowell Colony Fellow, and an Orchard Project Greenhouse artist, and he is under commission from Lincoln Center Theater and Playwrights Horizons.

Lopez's play The Inheritance premiered at London's Young Vic in 2018 before transferring to the West End later that year. He received the Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award, London Critics Circle Award, and Southbank Sky Arts Award for Best New Play. His other works include The Whipping Man, Somewhere, Reverberation, The Sentinels, and The Legend of Georgia McBride. He is currently writing the musical adaptation of the classic film Some Like It Hot.

Set to take place at the Marriott Marquis, the 2020 HRC Greater New York Gala, the first since HRC opened its New York office, raises funds for the fight for LGBTQ equality. Tickets and further information are available here.