By awards ceremony standards, Friday's Onyx Awards, presented for the second year by the African American Council of the Arts at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, Downtown, were so congenial and intimate, and those in attendance so obviously held each another in such high regard, it would have been easy to forget that many of them were actually in competition with one another for awards.

"It's rare for me to be in a room like this and know everybody," joked New Horizon Theater creative director Ernest McCarty.

And yet competition there was, with Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre's "Fences" and Kuntu Repertory Theatre's "Sophisticated Ladies" dominating the awards. Three of the acting awards went to Kevin Brown.

The event was emceed with warm vivacity by WPXI news anchor Vince Simms. The 29 awards recognized excellence in the productions of a half-dozen predominantly black local theater and dance companies.

The need for a visible and dedicated community of black theaters, performers and appreciators committed to supporting and recognizing black theater was highlighted in a stirring call to purpose from keynote speaker Woodie King Jr.

"[We] came together to recognize, salute, throw light on, reward the excellent work that is being done by black actors, directors, playwrights, technicians and theaters here in Pittsburgh. The Onyx Awards committee is painfully aware that whites are continually honoring their own and defining what black theater or what black artist is worthy of their awards and their recognition," said King.

King, founder of New York's New Federal Theater, has won numerous awards for his work, including the Obie and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, yet he noted that it remains difficult for black theater to attract the audiences, funding and critical attention of the predominantly white theater community when the productions aren't affiliated with predominantly white companies.

"[AACTA] wants you to know black theater is not and should not be a secondary cultural item on your agenda -- black theater is as vital and important as Eurocentric theater here in Pittsburgh," he said.

The Onyx Awards were started by AACTA president Victoria Bey. AACTA now has 13 board members. The awards are determined by an independent panel of nine anonymous judges who attend each qualifying show throughout the season.

Qualifying companies this year were Kuntu Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, New Horizon Theater, African Grove Performance Ensemble, Renaissance Publications Presents and Shona Sharif African Dance and Drum Ensemble. Imported professional actors, such as Vivian Reed in Kuntu's "Bubbling Brown Sugar," were ruled ineligible. New this year were awards to "minority" actors, which in this context means non-African-American.