Obie Award


The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after the 2014 ceremony, the American Theatre Wing became the joint presenter and administrative manager of the Obie Awards. The Obie Awards are considered off-Broadway's highest honor, similar to the Tony Awards for Broadway productions.

Background

The Obie Awards were initiated by critic Jerry Tallmer and Edwin Fancher, publisher of The Village Voice, who handled the financing and business side of the project. They were first given in 1956 under the direction of Tallmer. Initially, only off-Broadway productions were eligible; in 1964, off-off-Broadway productions were made eligible. The first Obie Awards ceremony was held at Helen Gee's cafe.
With the exception of the Lifetime Achievement and Best New American Play awards, there are no fixed categories at the Obie Awards, and the winning actors and actresses are all in a single category titled "Performance." There are no announced nominations. Awards in the past have included performance, direction, best production, design, special citations, and sustained achievement. Not every category is awarded every year. The Village Voice also awards annual Obie grants to selected companies; in 2011, these grants were $2,000 each to Metropolitan Playhouse and Wakka Wakka Productions. There is also a Ross Wetzsteon Grant, named after its former theater editor, in the amount of $2,000, for a theatre that nurtures innovative new plays.
The first awards in 1955-1956 for plays and musicals were given to Absalom as Best New Play, Uncle Vanya, Best All-Around Production and The Threepenny Opera as Best Musical.
In September 2014, the American Theatre Wing joined the Village Voice as co-presenters, with the Wing having "overall responsibility for running" the Awards. In 2021, the Wing took over as sole presenter of the Obie Awards.

Award categories

  • Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress
  • Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actor
  • Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Ensemble
  • Sustained Achievement Award
  • Best New American Theatre Work Award
  • Playwriting Award
  • Design Award
  • Special Citations
  • Obie Grants
  • The Ross Wetzsteon Award

    Ceremony history

Notable winners

2000s

2010s

2020s

Grants

Obie Grants are awarded each year to select theatre companies. Previous recipients include:
YearRecipient
1985Intar
1985The Production Company
1985The Richard Allen Center
1985Spiderwoman Theatre
1985The Split Britches Company
1986P.S. 122
1986Billie Holiday Theatre
1986Mabou Mines
1987The Irish Arts Center
1987Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association
1987The New Theatre of Brooklyn
1988CSC Repertory
1988Theatre for a New Audience
1989Cucaracha Warehouse Theater
1989The Living Theater
1990Dixon Place
1990Pregones Theater
1990WOW Cafe
1990BACA New Works Project
199052nd Street Project
1991En Garde Arts
1991Hearts and Voices
1991Mettawee River Theater Company
1992Downtown Art Company
1992Franklin Furnace
1992Soho Repertory Company
1993Nuyorican Poets Cafe
1993Pearl Theater
1994Changing Scenes
1994HERE Arts Center
1995Archives at LaMama
1995Blueprint Series at Ontologic-Hysteric Theatre
1995Nada
1996New George's
1996The TEBA Group
1997St.Paul's Community Baptist Church Drama Ministry
1997Great Small Works
1998Housing Works Theater Project
1998Caught in the Act annual one-act festival presented
1999The POINT Community Development Corporation
1999National Asian American Theater
2000Five Myles
2000Circus Amok
2000Big Dance Theater
2001Soho Rep
2001Clubbed Thumb
2001Classical Theater of Harlem
2001Mint Theater Company
2002Ma-Yi Theater Company
2002Salt Theater Company
2003Collapsable Hole
2003Galapagos
2003The Immigrant Theatre Project
2004The Civilians
2004Musicals Tonight
2004THAW
200513P
2005Epic Theatre Company
2005Little Theater at Tonic
2005Gina Gionfriddo Distinguished Emerging Playwright
2005Margo Skinner Memorial Acting Scholarship
2007Peculiar Works Project
2007The Play Company
2007Synapse Productions
2007Transport Group
2007Young Jean Lee
2008Keen Company
2008Theater of a Two-Headed Calf
2009The Chocolate Factory
2009The Classical Theatre of Harlem
2009Lark Play Development Center
2010Harlem School of the Arts
2010Ontological Incubator
2010Vampire Cowboys
2011Metropolitan Playhouse
2011Wakka Wakka
2012Bushwick Starr
2012The Debate Society
2013Fulcrum Theater
2013Half Straddle
201448 Hours in Harlem
2014600 Highwaymen
2015Horse Trade Theater Group / The Fire This Time Festival
2015JACK
2016Bedlam Theatre
2016Noor Theatre
2016Prospect Theater Company
2017Irish Repertory Theatre
2017Pearl Theatre Company
2017The Playwrights Realm
2018Pan-Asian Repertory Theatre
2018York Theatre Company
2019The Movement Theatre Company
2019Target Margin Theatre
2019WP Theater
2023The Sol Project
2023Theatre in Quarantine
2023See Lighting Foundation
2023Anticapitalism for Artists
2024Breaking the Binary Theatre Company
2024Dominican Artists Collective
2024The Brick
2025Criminal Queerness Festival
2025Out of the Box Theatrics
2025Braata Productions
2025The 1/52 Project
2025Tectonic Theater Project

Ross Wetzsteon Award is a $2,000 grant awarded to a theatre that nurture innovative new plays. Previous recipients include:
YearRecipient
1998Vineyard Theatre
1999Ellie Covan
1999Dixon Place
2000The Foundry
2001Theatre For A New Audience
2002PS 122
2003Soho Think Tank's Ice Factory series at the Ohio Theatre
2004St. Ann's Warehouse
2005New Dramatists
2006Soho Repertory Theater
2007Rattlestick Theatre
2008Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project
2009HERE Arts Center
2011Belarus Free Theatre
2014Abrons Arts Center
2015Ars Nova
2016NAATCO / National Asian American Theatre Company
2017Theatre For a New Audience
2018Ma-Yi Theater Company
2019LCT3
2023Classical Theatre of Harlem
2024Under the Radar Festival
2025Theater Mitu