Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play
The Outer Critics Circle Award for Direction of a Play, formerly the award for Director of a Play, is an annual award given to the best director of a (non-musical) play on Broadway or Off-Broadway, as determined by Outer Critics Circle. The award has been given out since the 1992–1993 season, when the Best Director award split and renamed into musical and play categories. In 2024, the award was renamed to Outstanding Direction of a Play.
Jack O'Brien has won the most awards, with four, followed by Joe Mantello with three awards. Daniel J. Sullivan has received the most nominations with eight, followed by Joe Mantello and Jack O'Brien with seven and six nominations, respectively.
Award winners
- Key
1990s
Year |
Director |
Production |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
1993 |
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Daniel J. Sullivan |
The Sisters Rosensweig |
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1994 |
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George C. Wolfe |
Angels in America and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 |
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1995 |
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Joe Mantello |
Love! Valour! Compassion! |
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1996 |
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Lloyd Richards |
Seven Guitars |
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1997 |
|||
John Caird |
Stanley |
||
Anthony Page |
A Doll's House |
||
Daniel J. Sullivan |
An American Daughter |
||
Ron Lagomarsino |
The Last Night of Ballyhoo |
||
1998 |
|||
Michael Mayer |
A View from the Bridge and Side Man |
||
Matthew Warchus |
Art |
||
Ethan McSweeny |
Never the Sinner |
||
Garry Hynes |
The Beauty Queen of Leenane |
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1999 |
|||
Howard Davies |
The Iceman Cometh |
||
Robert Falls |
Death of a Salesman |
||
Patrick Marber |
Closer |
||
Trevor Nunn |
Not About Nightingales |
2000s
Year |
Director |
Production |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
2000 |
|||
Daniel J. Sullivan |
A Moon for the Misbegotten and Dinner with Friends |
||
Peter Hall |
Amadeus |
||
Michael Blakemore |
Copenhagen |
||
David Leveaux |
The Real Thing |
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2001 |
|||
Jack O'Brien |
The Invention of Love |
||
John Tillinger |
Judgment at Nuremberg |
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Daniel J. Sullivan |
Proof |
||
Ian McElhinney |
Stones in His Pockets |
||
2002 |
|||
Mary Zimmerman |
Metamorphoses |
||
Scott Schwartz |
Franz Kafka's The Castle |
||
Daniel J. Sullivan |
Morning's at Seven |
||
Jeremy Sams |
Noises Off |
||
George C. Wolfe |
Topdog/Underdog |
||
2003 |
|||
Joe Mantello |
Take Me Out |
||
Gerald Gutierrez |
Dinner at Eight |
||
Michael Wilson |
Enchanted April |
||
Michael Engler |
Talking Heads |
||
2004 |
|||
Jack O'Brien |
Henry IV (both parts) |
||
Moises Kaufman |
I Am My Own Wife |
||
Daniel J. Sullivan |
Intimate Apparel |
||
Doug Hughes |
Frozen |
||
2005 |
|||
Doug Hughes |
Doubt |
||
Dan Wackerman |
Counsellor-at-Law |
||
Joe Mantello |
Glengarry Glen Ross |
||
John Crowley |
The Pillowman |
||
Anthony Page |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
||
2006 |
|||
Nicholas Hytner |
The History Boys |
||
Bartlett Sher |
Awake and Sing! |
||
Jerry Zaks |
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial |
||
Wilson Milam |
The Lieutenant of Inishmore |
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2007 |
|||
Jack O'Brien |
The Coast of Utopia |
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David Grindley |
Journey's End |
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Michael Grandage |
Frost/Nixon |
||
Melly Still |
Coram Boy |
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2008 |
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Anna D. Shapiro |
August: Osage County |
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Rufus Norris |
Les Liaisons Dangereuses |
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Rupert Goold |
Macbeth |
||
Maria Aitken |
The 39 Steps |
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2009 |
|||
Matthew Warchus |
The Norman Conquests |
||
Moisés Kaufman |
33 Variations |
||
Bartlett Sher |
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone |
||
Garry Hynes |
The Cripple of Inishmaan |
||
Anthony Page |
Waiting for Godot |
2010s
Year |
Director |
Production |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
2010 |
|||
Michael Wilson |
The Orphans' Home Cycle |
||
Stanley Tucci |
Lend Me a Tenor |
||
Doug Hughes |
The Royal Family |
||
Kenny Leon |
Fences |
||
2011 |
|||
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris |
War Horse |
||
Emma Rice |
Brief Encounter |
||
Anna D. Shapiro |
The Motherfucker with the Hat |
||
Daniel J. Sullivan |
Good People |
||
2012 |
|||
Nicholas Hytner |
One Man, Two Guvnors |
||
Mike Nichols |
Death of a Salesman |
||
Mark Brokaw |
The Lyons |
||
David Cromer |
Tribes |
||
2013 |
|||
Jack O'Brien |
The Nance |
||
Nicholas Martin |
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike |
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Bartlett Sher |
Golden Boy |
||
Michael Wilson |
The Trip to Bountiful |
||
Pam MacKinnon |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
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2014 |
|||
Tim Carroll |
Twelfth Night |
||
Bill Rauch |
All the Way |
||
Lyndsey Turner |
Machinal |
||
Michael Grandage |
The Cripple of Inishmaan |
||
Lindsay Posner |
The Winslow Boy |
||
2015 |
|||
Marianne Elliott |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time |
||
Stephen Daldry |
The Audience |
||
Jeremy Herrin |
Wolf Hall |
||
Scott Ellis |
The Elephant Man |
||
You Can't Take it With You |
|||
2016 |
|||
Ivo van Hove |
A View from the Bridge |
||
Evan Cabnet |
Gloria |
||
Rupert Goold |
King Charles III |
||
Joe Mantello |
The Humans |
||
Mike Donahue |
The Legend of Georgia McBride |
||
2017 |
|||
Rebecca Taichman |
Indecent |
||
Kate Whoriskey |
Sweat |
||
Jack O'Brien |
The Front Page |
||
Daniel J. Sullivan |
The Little Foxes |
||
Lila Neugebauer |
The Wolves |
||
2018 |
|||
John Tiffany |
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child |
||
Marianne Elliott |
Angels in America |
||
Jo Bonney |
Cost of Living |
||
Joe Mantello |
Three Tall Women |
||
Patrick Marber |
Travesties |
||
2019 |
|||
Sam Mendes |
The Ferryman |
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Jack O'Brien |
All My Sons |
||
Rupert Goold |
Ink |
||
Logan Vaughn |
The Light |
||
Bartlett Sher |
To Kill a Mockingbird |
2020s
Year |
Director |
Production |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
2020 (Hon.) |
Kenny Leon |
A Soldier's Play |
|
Jamie Lloyd |
Betrayal |
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John Ortiz |
Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven |
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Stephen Daldry |
The Inheritance |
||
David Cromer |
The Sound Inside |
||
2021 |
No award given due to COVID-19 pandemic. |
||
2022 |
|||
Sam Mendes |
The Lehman Trilogy |
||
Camille A. Brown |
for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf |
||
Ruben Santiago-Hudson |
Skeleton Crew |
||
Scott Ellis |
Take Me Out |
||
Anna D. Shapiro |
The Minutes |
||
2023 |
|||
Patrick Marber |
Leopoldstadt |
||
Max Webster |
Life of Pi |
||
Pam MacKinnon |
Downstate |
||
Kenny Leon |
Topdog/Underdog |
||
Adam Meggido |
Peter Pan Goes Wrong |
||
2024 |
|||
Daniel Aukin |
Stereophonic |
||
Knud Adams |
Primary Trust |
||
Kenny Leon |
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch |
||
Robert Falls |
Swing State |
||
Lila Neugebauer |
Appropriate |
||
2025 |
|||
Danya Taymor |
John Proctor is the Villain |
||
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin |
Stranger Things: The First Shadow |
||
Phylicia Rashad |
Purpose |
||
Sam Mendes |
The Hills of California |
||
Trip Cullman |
Cult of Love |
||
2026 |
|||
Joe Mantello |
Death of a Salesman |
||
Ngozi Anyanwu |
The Monsters |
||
Trip Cullman |
Becky Shaw |
||
Robert Icke |
Oedipus |
||
Debbie Allen |
Joe Turner's Come and Gone |
||
Tarell Alvin McCraney and Bijan Shibani |
The Brothers Size |
||
Multiple wins
- 4 wins
- Jack O'Brien
- 3 wins
- Joe Mantello
- 2 wins
- Daniel J. Sullivan
- Nicholas Hytner
- Marianne Elliott
- Sam Mendes
Multiple nominations
- 8 nominations
- Daniel J. Sullivan
- 7 nominations
- Joe Mantello
- 6 nominations
- Jack O'Brien
- 4 nominations
- Bartlett Sher
- Kenny Leon
- 3 nominations
- Anthony Page
- Patrick Marber
- Doug Hughes
- Anna D. Shapiro
- Rupert Goold
- Michael Wilson
- Marianne Elliott
- Scott Ellis
- Sam Mendes
- Stephen Daldry
- 2 nominations
- George C. Wolfe
- Matthew Warchus
- Garry Hynes
- Robert Falls
- Moisés Kaufman
- Nicholas Hytner
- Michael Grandage
- Pam MacKinnon
- Lila Neugebauer
- Trip Cullman
See also
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play
- Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director
References
Outstanding Director of a Play