William Inge Theatre Festival

Since its inception, the William Inge Theatre Festival, has brought to Independence, Kansas, some of the world’s most prestigious playwrights. Arthur Miller, Wendy Wasserstein, August Wilson, Neil Simon, Paula Vogel, and Stephen Sondheim are some of those who have traveled to Independence to accept the Festival’s Distinguished Achievement in American Theatre Award. The Inge Festival honors also bestows the Otis Guernsey New Voices in Playwriting award, which recognizes a peer-nominated emerging playwright, the Margaret Goheen Award, for outstanding contributions to theatre in Independence and surrounding area (named after the founder of the Festival), and the Jerome Lawrence Award for contributions to the Inge Festival and the national theatre by a non-playwright.

The William Inge Center for the Arts was founded as the William Inge Festival, later changing its name to the William Inge Theater Festival. Since 2002, the Inge Center significantly expanded its programming, prompting another name change to the William Inge Center for the Arts in 2004. This was to avoid confusion with the annual William Inge Theatre Festival event.