2022-2023 Awards

2022-2023 AWARDS

The New York Drama Critics’ Circle met at the New York offices of Time Out Media on Monday, May 5, 2023 to determine the winners of its 87th annual awards. The results were as follows:

Best Play: Downstate (Bruce Norris)
Best Play: Leopoldstadt (Tom Stoppard)
Best Musical: No award
Special Citations: La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club; Adrienne Kennedy; the Broadway revival of Parade

For the first time since 2009, the award for Best Play was decided on the first ballot: Bruce Norris’s Downstate won with 11 of the 18 votes cast.

Having awarded Best Play to a work by an American author, the Circle then considered an award for Best Foreign Play. Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt won on the first ballot with 13 of 18 votes cast.

After a deeply divided first ballot, the Circle opted not to give an award for Best Musical.

Following a spirited discussion, the Circle also voted to award three Special Citations: to La MaMa E.T.C. for ongoing achievement in Off-Off Broadway theater; to playwright Adrienne Kennedy for lifetime achievement; and to the Broadway revival of Parade.

The awards will be presented in a private ceremony on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.

Best Play, first ballot:

David Barbour: Leopoldstadt
David Cote: Downstate
Vinson Cunningham: Downstate
Joe Dziemianowicz: Downstate
Greg Evans: Leopoldstadt
Adam Feldman: Downstate
David Finkle: Leopoldstadt
Elysa Gardner: Fat Ham
Robert Hofler: Downstate
Charles Isherwood: Leopoldstadt
Chris Jones: Downstate
Johnny Oleksinski: Downstate
Frank Scheck: Downstate
Helen Shaw: Downstate
David Sheward: Leopoldstadt
Zachary Stewart: Downstate
Elisabeth Vincentelli (proxy): Downstate
Matt Windman (proxy): Leopoldstadt

Best Foreign Play, first ballot:

David Barbour: Leopoldstadt
David Cote: Love
Vinson Cunningham: Abstain
Joe Dziemianowicz: Leopoldstadt
Greg Evans: Leopoldstadt
Adam Feldman: Leopoldstadt
David Finkle: Leopoldstadt
Elysa Gardner: Leopoldstadt
Robert Hofler: Leopoldstadt
Charles Isherwood: Leopoldstadt
Chris Jones: Leopoldstadt
Johnny Oleksinski: Prima Facie
Frank Scheck: Leopoldstadt
Helen Shaw: Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel
David Sheward: Leopoldstadt
Zachary Stewart: Leopoldstadt
Elisabeth Vincentelli (proxy): Prima Facie
Matt Windman (proxy): Leopoldstadt

Best Musical, first ballot:

David Barbour: Some Like It Hot
David Cote: Some Like It Hot
Vinson Cunningham: Dreaming Zenzile
Joe Dziemianowicz: Abstain
Greg Evans: Some Like It Hot
Adam Feldman: The Appointment
David Finkle: Some Like It Hot
Elysa Gardner: Dreaming Zenzile
Robert Hofler: Abstain
Charles Isherwood: Dreaming Zenzile
Chris Jones:Abstain
Johnny Oleksinski: Shucked
Frank Scheck: Shucked
Helen Shaw: The Appointment
David Sheward: The Bedwetter
Zachary Stewart: Some Like It Hot
Elisabeth Vincentelli (proxy): The Bedwetter
Matt Windman (proxy): Some Like It Hot