The Shaw Award is the National Literary Award Committee’s recognition for the best in theater and playwriting. It’s named after one of the most beloved playwrights in the 20^th century. This award recognizes the best plays being written for and performed on the stage.  Playwriting is just one of the areas of literature that we recognize. This award is for the plays that best exemplify the human condition both through the literature and performance arts. For this award to be given it has to be play that’s written and performed on a national stage in the last three years of the award year.