The American Theatre Wing Announces Recipients of Obie Awards

The American Theatre Wing and Spectrum News NY1 announced the winners of the Obie Awards on Saturday, January 27. The recipients of the 67th Annual Awards, honoring off- and off-off-Broadway, were announced on Spectrum News NY1’s “On Stage,” hosted by Emmy Award winner Frank DiLella. In lieu of the annual awards ceremony, the American Theatre Wing will instead dedicate funds to the support and growth of the artists. Award winners will receive grants ranging from $1,000-$5,000.

The winners of the 67th Obie Awards are as follows:

Best New American Play

Ryan J. Haddad, Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater)

Playwriting

Hansol Jung, Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company)

Bruce Norris, Downstate (Playwrights Horizons | Steppenwolf Theatre Company | National Theatre)

Direction

Dustin Wills, Montag (Soho Rep), Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons and MCC Theater), and Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company)

Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company)

Faye Driscoll, Weathering (New York Live Arts)

Sustained Achievement in Directing

Eric Ting, The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company)

Pam MacKinnon, Downstate (Playwrights Horizons | Steppenwolf Theatre Company | National Theatre)

Performance

William Jackson Harper, Primary Trust (Roundabout Theatre Company)

Marla Mindelle, Titanique (Eva Price)

Zuleyma Guevara, Sancocho (The Sol Project | Latinx Playwrights Circle | WP Theater)

Maryann Plunkett, Deep Blue Sound (Clubbed Thumb)

Sustained Achievement in Performance

Shannon Tyo, The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company), The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Company), and Regretfully, So The Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons | WP Theater)

John Douglas Thompson, Endgame (Irish Repertory Theatre) and Hamlet (The Public Theater)

K. Todd Freeman, Downstate (Playwrights Horizons)

Design

Enver Chakartash (Costumes), Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company), Toros (Second Stage Theater), The Trees (Playwrights Horizons | Page 73), Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company), Catch As Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons), and I’m Revolting (Atlantic Theater Company)

Barbara Samuels (Lights), Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company), Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company), Becky Nurse of Salem (Lincoln Center Theater), and Toros (Second Stage Theater)

Sustained Achievement in Design

dots (Sets) Collective: Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, Andrew Moerdyk, and Kimie Nishikawa, Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company), Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater), Events (The Hearth Theater Company), Infinite Life (Atlantic Theater Company), Deep Blue Sound (Clubbed Thumb), and Grief Hotel (Clubbed Thumb)

Mikaal Sulaiman (Sound), The Half God of Rainfall (New York Theatre Workshop), Primary Trust (Roundabout Theatre), Des Moines (Theatre For A New Audience), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (The New Group)

Special Citations

Ensemble of Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater): Ryan J. Haddad, Dickie Hearts, and Alejandra Ospina

Design Team of Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizon | MCC Theater): Kate Noll (Set), Cha See (Lights), Haydee Zelideth Antuñano (Costumes), Tei Blow (Co-Sound), John Gasper (Co-Sound), and Nick Hussong (Projections)

Ensemble of The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company): Brittany Bradford, Caleb Eberhardt, Susannah Flood, Bobby Moreno, and Shannon Tyo

Liza Birkenmeier (Writer) and Tara Ahmadinejad (Director) of Grief Hotel (Clubbed Thumb)

Lead Actors of Montag (Soho Rep): Ariana Venturi and Nadine Malouf

Intimacy Coordinators of Color and Ann C. James (Founder and Mentor)

Lifetime Achievement

Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver (writing and performing duo of Split Britches)

Carole Rothman (Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Second Stage)

Theatre Grants

Breaking the Binary Theatre Company

Dominican Artists Collective (DAC)

The Brick

Ross Wetzsteon Award

Under the Radar Festival (Mark Russell as Founder)

Michael Feingold Award

Andrew Morrill for their work as Director of Artistic Sign Language and Alison Kopit for Access Dramaturgy of Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater)

The 67th Obie Awards recognizes the outstanding contributions made throughout the 2022-2023 off- and off-off-Broadway theater season (September 1, 2022-August 31, 2023). The Obie judges committee includes: Obie-winning and Tony Award-nominated costume designer Dede Ayite; scenic designer Wilson Chin; writer and Grammy Award winner Ty Defoe; Broadway’s first Black intimacy coordinator and Obie Award winner Ann C. James; Obie Award-winning playwright Haruna Lee; actor, writer, and performance artist Florencia Lozano; and Obie Award-winning performance artist Carmelita Tropicana; and is co-chaired by Obie-winning director David Mendizábal and veteran theater critic Melissa Rose Bernardo.

The full list of winners, as well as their recorded acceptance speeches, is available on obieawards.com.