The Victor Shargai Leadership Award Celebration will be held on February 23, 2026 at 6pm in tandem with the Helen Hayes Awards nominations. The nominations will be announced by DC-area theatre makers and the evening will feature a celebration of awardees Psalmayene 24 and Share Fund.
2026 Recipients of the Victor Shargai Leadership Award
Psalmayene 24 is a prolific theatre artist – playwright, director, dancer, and performer. Psalmayene 24 made Washington, DC his artistic home after being a student at Howard University. In the 1990s, he immersed himself in creative communities in dance, music, spoken word, and theatre. Since that time, he has created and led projects across the DC-area theatre scene, including Cinderella: the Remix at Imagination Stage, Word Becomes Flesh at Theater Alliance, Dear Maple at Mosaic Theater Company, Out of the Vineyard at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Metamorphoses at Folger Theatre, and the much anticipated upcoming Young John Lewis at Mosaic Theater Company. He is a six-time nominee and two-time recipient of the Helen Hayes Award. Psalmayene 24 is a passionate advocate for local communities, consistently amplifying voices and narratives that are often marginalized in mainstream theatre. He holds long and loyal artistic collaborations with artists such as Tony Thomas, Kate Breyer, Nick “the 1da” Hernandez, and Paige Hernandez, and organizations such as Imagination Stage, Studio Theatre, and Mosaic Theater Company.
Share Fund is a grant-making organization founded by Julie Jacobson, with support from Executive Director Pamela Nash. Founded in 2011, the Fund focuses on building a stronger DC region and serving its people, with broad gifts across the nonprofit sector, to organizations that address food insecurity, unhoused populations and affording housing, jobs and workforce development, youth services, education and literacy, environment, healthcare, and the arts and theatre. The Fund has distributed gifts totaling $117 million dollars since its inception, with an annual budget of approximately $10 million. In 2025, 275 organizations were the recipients of grants from Share Fund, including DC-area theatres: Alliance New Music-Theatre, Arena Stage, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Avant Bard Theatre, Constellation Theatre, ExPats Theatre, Flying V Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library, Ford’s Theatre, GALA Hispanic Theatre, Happenstance Theatre, Imagination Stage, IN Series, Keegan Theatre, Longacre Lea, MetroStage, Mosaic Theater Company, NextStop Theatre Co, Nu Sass, Olney Theatre Center, Prologue Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, Round House Theatre, SCENA Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Solas Nua, Spooky Action Theatre, Studio Theatre, Synetic Theatre, Taffety Punk Theatre Company, Theater Alliance, Theater J, Theatre Lab, Theatre Prometheus, Theatre Washington, Voices Festival Productions, We Happy Few Productions, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Young Playwrights’ Theater.
The Event
6-9:30pm
At Studio Theatre
1501 14th St NW, Washington, DC
6pm: Mingle with friends and colleagues
6:30pm: Announcement of nominations for the 2026 Helen Hayes Awards
Brief Intermission
7:30pm: Presentation of the Victor Shargai Leadership Awards
8:30pm: Reception with light bites and cocktails
Tickets
$1,000: Event Sponsor
Your gift enables us to uplift the artists and leaders of our community. Event sponsors will be recognized in all print and digital material.
$95: Supporter
Your gift helps us to continue to honor DC-area theatre-makers and Victor's legacy as a champion of our community.
Industry Pay What You Wish (Suggested: $30)
It is important to us that DC-area theatre-makers are able to attend this event. Please pay what you are able to contribute.
Live Streaming in the Lobby Bar (Suggested: $30)
Join friends and colleagues for standing room only viewing via live stream of the nominations and awards in the lobby bar.