Jay Halio (left), UD professor emeritus of English and former chairperson of the University of Delaware Press editorial board, with award recipient Mary Rosenberg and Donald C. Mell, UD professor of English and current chairperson of the UD Press editorial board.

This was the 39th year of the book awards celebrating the best in performing arts publishing, and the award honors George Freedley, theatre historian, critic, author and first curator of the New York Public Library's Theatre Collection. The ceremony was held June 1 in the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

Jay Halio, UD professor emeritus of English and former chairperson of the University of Delaware Press editorial board, presented the award to Mary Rosenberg. Donald C. Mell, UD professor of English and the current chairperson of the board, and Julien Yoseloff, director of Associated University Presses, of which UD Press is a member, also were present.

Marvin Rosenberg, professor emeritus in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, was internationally known for his four Masks books on Shakespeare's tragedies. His Masks of Hamlet won the University of Delaware Press Award in 1992 and the George Freedley Memorial Award in 1993.

The Masks of Anthony and Cleopatra is a scene-by-scene, act-by-act, analysis of Shakespeare's play from the viewpoint of a literary critic and student of theatre history.

“Using both text and staging history, Marvin Rosenberg combines literary criticism and performance reviews in his insightful and comprehensive evaluation,” Mell said. “The Masks of Anthony and Cleopatra is a welcome addition to our already strong list of publications in Shakespeare and early modern studies.”