Theatre for a New Audience will present playwright and actor Wallace Shawn with its annual Samuel H. Scripps Award, which recognizes extraordinary commitment to promoting the power of language in classic and contemporary drama, the theater announced yesterday.

Though he is best known for several high-profile film roles, in movies such as “My Dinner With Andre,” “The Princess Bride,” and “Clueless,” Mr. Shawn, 64, established himself in the early 1970s as a playwright, and since then has helped stage a number of celebrated New York productions. His plays, which include “The Designated Mourner,” “Aunt Dan and Lemon,” and “The Fever,” explore the fragility of culture and the often-hidden political and ethical compromises of living in the modern Western world. He also co-wrote, with frequent collaborator Andre Gregory, Louis Malle’s “My Dinner With Andre” (1981) and appeared with Mr. Gregory in the film “Vanya on 42nd Street” (1994). His latest play, “Grasses of a Thousand Colors,” is scheduled for production in 2009.

The award, which consists of a sculpture of Shakespeare by Milton Glaser, will be given to Mr. Shawn at the theater’s May 12 gala celebrating the Bard’s 444th birthday, to be held at the American Museum of Natural History. Previous recipients include playwright Tony Kushner and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Cicely Berry.