The Village Voice Obie Awards were created by Jerry Tallmer in 1955, soon after the first publication of the paper, to publicly acknowledge and encourage the growing Off-Broadway theater movement. Just as they are today, the Village Voice Obies were purposely structured with informal categories, to recognize persons and productions worthy of distinction in each theater season. The Obie Awards are an important part of the Voice’s long history of championing Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway.