Congratulations to the recipients of this year’s Emery Battis Acting Award, Carson Elrod (The Heir Apparent) and Steven Epp (The Servant of Two Masters)!
The award, named in honor of STC’s longtime friend and affiliated artist, the late Emery Battis, is given based on the recommendation of a panel of 11 individuals, which includes both prominent supporters of the theatre and local critics. All performers and shows within STC’s mainstage season are eligible for the award, which comes with a $5,000 cash prize made possible by the support of a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
Carson Elrod made his Shakespeare Theatre Company debut as the cunning young manservant Crispin in The Heir Apparent. Elrod was recently seen in New York Shakespeare in the Park’s Measure for Measure and All’s Well That Ends Well. His Broadway credits include Reckless and Noises Off, and he has numerous New York credits including Peter and the Starcatcher, Based on a Totally True Story, Cavedweller, Waiting for Godot and Monkey in the Middle. His long list of regional theatre credits includes The Wake, How the Other Half Loves, A Flea in Her Ear, Oliver Twist, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Television and film audiences will recognize Elrod from his roles on 30 Rock, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Medium, Wedding Crashers, Married to the Kellys and Kissing Jessica Stein.
About Steven Epp
Steven Epp performed the role of Truffaldino, the crafty servant in STC’s production of The Servant of Two Masters. Epp was the co-Artistic Director at Theatre de la Jeune Lune, winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, from 1983-2008. While there he performed the title roles in Tartuffe, Crusoe, Hamlet, Gulliver: A Swift Journey and many others. Other theatre credits include performances at Yale Repertory Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Spoleto Festival, American Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre and Off-Broadway’s New Victory Theater. He was a 1999 Fox Fellow and a 2009 McKnight Theatre Artist Fellow.