OBIE Awards 2005 - 2006 - six of the award presenters named.

Six presenters of the the 51st Annual Village Voice OBIE Awards have been announced. The awards ceremony will be held at the The Skirball Center at NYU on the 15 May 2006.

The six presenters named are Christine Lahti, Christine Ebersole, Edward Hibbert, Douglas Carter Beane, Phylicia Rashad and Oskar Eustis, with more presenters to be announced.

The OBIE Awards are Off-Broadway's highest honor, created in 1955 by Jerry Tallmer. The 2205 - 2006 OBIE Awards are the awards 51st anniversary.

The award event will be an irreverent ceremony honoring the Off & Off-Off Broadway Theater Community for the 2005-2006 season. Cash Grants for artistic excellence & playwriting will also be awarded.

The panel of judges for the Obie Awards are:

• Obie-winning playwright Lynn Nottage
• Obie-winning actor for sustained excellence Didi O'Connell
• Obie-winning director David Herskovits
• playwright & head of Columbia University Graduate Playwriting Program, Eduardo Machado
• critic & Professor at Yale School of Drama, Marc Robinson
• Village Voice chief theater critic Michael Feingold
• Village Voice theater critic Alexis Soloski
• Village Voice theater editor & Chairman of the 2005-06 Obie Awards Committee, Jorge Morales.

There are no nominations or categories for the Obie Awards.