“To receive an award for political theatre in Europe is not so unusual. Everyone is doing political theatre,” says Mario Fratti, the Tony-award winning playwright and director. “But to receive an award for political theater in America is nothing short of a miracle!”

Mr. Fratti, a 2000 Otto Award recipient, is one of the more than 30 individuals and cultural organizations, which have, since the award’s inception in 1999, won an Otto. This rather unusual theatre award, (by American theatre standards), was created by the off-off-Broadway Castillo Theatre.

Every June, the theatre community comes together to recognize and support those theatres, writers and artists who are dedicated to creating work that embraces humanistic and social concerns.

The Otto Award is named for the Guatemalan poet and revolutionary Otto Rene Castillo, who was murdered by that country’s military junta in 1968. Established in 1998, the Otto Awards have since honored such accomplished, dedicated and diverse artists and theatre companies as: El Teatro Campesino, The Living Theatre, Laurie Anderson, the Steppenwolf Theatre, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe.

The Otto Award itself is a work of art, designed by Brazilian-born multimedia artist Sheila Goloborotko. Ms. Goloborotko's work can be seen in major museums and galleries in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, New York, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, and is part of the New York Public Library permanent collection of rare prints.

The Castillo Theatre is the off-off-Broadway theatre of the All Stars Project, a non-profit production house that produces socially relevant and highly entertaining theatrical productions, as well as inner-city youth theatre and talent shows. Castillo is dedicated to building bridges between communities—bringing together diverse artists and diverse audiences.