For more than sixty years, the Obie Awards, developed by the Village Voice in 1955, have honored the boundary-pushing achievements of Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theater, with informal awards categories that recognize the people, productions, and companies worthy of distinction. In 2015, the American Theatre Wing joined the Voice to co-present the Obies with the mission of celebrating the diverse artists who bring important progressive work to the New York City stage.
The 2023 awards were co-chaired by Obie-winning director and producing artistic leader David Mendizábal and veteran theater critic Melissa Rose Bernardo, with actor and fight choreographer Dave Anzuelo, scenic designer Wilson Chin, Obie-winning playwright Haruna Lee, Obie-winning director and playwright Lisa Peterson, and Obie-winning actor Heather Alicia Simms serving on the judging panel. For this year’s 66th Obie Awards, the judges reviewed over 400 productions over the last three seasons, including digital and audio works created during the pandemic.
For the first time since the shutdown of theaters in 2020, the community will gather in person for the ceremony, hosted by Crystal Lucas-Perry, on Monday, February 27, beginning at 7:30 pm, at Terminal 5, where Sustained and Lifetime Achievement winners will accept their awards. All other winners will be seen on the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel, on the same date and time.
The 66th Obie Award winners are:
BEST NEW AMERICAN PLAY: Sanaz Toossi, English (Atlantic Theater Company);
PLAYWRITING: Martyna Majok, Sanctuary City (New York Theater Workshop);
DIRECTION: Â Taylor Reynolds, Man Cave (Page 73) and Tambo & Bones (Playwrights Horizons); Awoye Timpo, Wedding Band (TFNA) and her work as founder of Classix; Matt Ray (Music Direction and Composition), The Hang (HERE);
SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING: Saheem Ali, Nollywood Dreams (MCC), Merry Wives (The Public), Romeo y Julieta (The Public), and Fat Ham (The Public/National Black Theater); David Brimmer, Wolf Play (SoHo Repertory);
PERFORMANCE: Stephanie Berry and Lizan Mitchell, On Sugarland (NYTW); Brittany Bradford, Wedding Band (Theatre For a New Audience); Kara Young, Twelfth Night (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Arturo LuÃs Soria, Ni Mi Madre (Rattlestick);
SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE: Billy Eugene Jones, On Sugarland (NYTW) and Fat Ham (The Public); Andrea Patterson, Cullud Wattah (Public Theater), Confederates (Signature), and Seize the King (The Classical Theatre of Harlem);
DESIGN: Reza Behjat (Lighting Design), English (Atlantic Theater Company) and Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons);
SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN DESIGN: Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (Lighting Design), Cullud Wattah (The Public), Oratorio for Living Things (Ars Nova), The Nosebleed (Lincoln Center Theater), Golden Shield (MTC), Snow in Midsummer (CSC), Fairycakes (Greenwich House), and What You Are Now (EST); Nikiya Mathis (Hair and Wig Design), Nollywood Dreams (MTC); Machine Dazzle (Set and Costume Designer);
SPECIAL CITATIONS: Heather Christian (Composer, Vocal Arrangements, Orchestration), Ben Moss (Music Director, Orchestration), Nick Kourtides (Sound Design), and the musical team of Oratorio for Living Things (Ars Nova); Creative Team and Ensemble of Fat Ham (The Public), James Ijames (Playwright), Saheem Ali (Director), Maruti Evans (Set Design), Dominique Fawn Hill (Costume Design), Stacey Derosier (Lighting Design), Mikaal Sulaiman (Sound Design), Darrell Grand Moultrie (Choreographer), Earon Chew Nealey (Hair and Wig Design), Skylar Fox (Illusions Design), Nikki Crawford, Chris Herbie Holland, Billy Eugene Jones, Adrianna Mitchell, Calvin Leon Smith, Marcel Spears, and Benja Kay Thomas (ensemble); Creative Team and Ensemble of English (The Atlantic Theater), Knud Adams (Directing), Marsha Ginsberg (Set Design), Enver Chakartash (Costume Design), Reza Behjat (Lighting Design), Sinan Refik Zafar (Sound Design), Tala Ashe, Ava Lalezarzadeh, Pooya Mohseni, Marjan Neshat, and Hadi Tabbal (Ensemble); Aya Ogawa, Creation, Writing, and Direction, The Nosebleed (Lincoln Center Theater/Japan Society); Qween Jean (Costume Designer), Corsicana (Playwrights Horizons), Soft (MCC), Wedding Band (TFNA), Black No More (The New Group), The Fever (Audible/The New Group), What To Send Up When it Goes Down (Playwrights Horizons), and Semblance (NYTW); Digital+Virtual+Hybrid Production, Michael Breslin, Patrick Foley, Ariel Sibert, Cat RodrÃguez and Rory Pelsue (Creators, Writers, Director) in collaboration with David Bengali (Video Designer), Circle Jerk (Fake Friends and Jeremy O. Harris); Laurie Woolery (Director) and Shaina Taub (Music and Lyrics), As You Like It (The Public); Alex Edelman (Creator and Performer), Just For Us (Mike Birbiglia/ Greenwich House Theater); Digital+Virtual+Hybrid Production, Modesto Flako Jimenez (Creator and Writer), Taxilandia (Oye Group/NYTW/Bushwick Starr/The Tank); Digital+Virtual+Hybrid Production, Sarah Gancher (Writer), Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson (Directors), Russian Troll Farm (The Civilians, Theater Works Hartford, and TheatreSquared); Richard Nelson (Playwright), The Rhinebeck Panorama;
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Ping Chong (Director, Choreographer, Video + Installation Artist, and Founder of Ping Chong and Company); Anne Bogart (Director and Co-Founder of SITI Company); Ralph Lee and Casey Compton (Artistic and Managing Director, Mettawee River Theatre Company);
THEATRE COMPANIES: The Sol Project; Theatre in Quarantine; See Lighting Foundation; Anticapitalism for Artists;
ROSS WETZSTEON AWARD: The Classical Theatre of Harlem;
MICHAEL FEINGOLD AWARD: Maestra Music.
The Obie Awards are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The 66th Obie Awards will be celebrated on Monday, February 27, 2023, beginning at 7:30 pm, at Terminal 5, 610 West 56th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $66.90, including fees), go online. To watch the event on the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel, click here.
