Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
| Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play | |
|---|---|
 2020 recipient: Stephen Daldry for The Inheritance | |
| Awarded for | Best Direction of a Play |
| Location | New York City |
| Presented by | American Theatre Wing The Broadway League |
| Currently held by | Stephen Daldry for The Inheritance (2020) |
| Website | TonyAwards.com |
The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: Dramatic and Musical. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play. For pre-1960 direction awards please reference Tony Award for Best Director.
Winners and nominees[]
indicates the winner
1960s[]
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 14th Tony Awards | ||
| Arthur Penn | The Miracle Worker | |
| Joseph Anthony | The Best Man | |
| Tyrone Guthrie | The Tenth Man | |
| Elia Kazan | Sweet Bird of Youth | |
| Lloyd Richards | A Raisin in the Sun | |
| 1961 15th Tony Awards | ||
| John Gielgud | Big Fish, Little Fish | |
| Joseph Anthony | Rhinoceros | |
| Joan Littlewood | The Hostage | |
| Arthur Penn | All the Way Home | |
| 1962 16th Tony Awards | ||
| Noel Willman | A Man for All Seasons | |
| Tyrone Guthrie | Gideon | |
| Donald McWhinnie | The Caretaker | |
| José Quintero | Great Day in the Morning | |
| 1963 17th Tony Awards | ||
| Alan Schneider | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| George Abbott | Never Too Late | |
| John Gielgud | The School for Scandal | |
| Peter Glenville | Tchin-Tchin | |
| 1964 18th Tony Awards | ||
| Mike Nichols | Barefoot in the Park | |
| June Havoc | Marathon '33 | |
| Alan Schneider | The Ballad of the Sad Café | |
| Herman Shumlin | The Deputy | |
| 1965 19th Tony Awards | ||
| Mike Nichols | Luv | |
| The Odd Couple | ||
| William Ball | Tartuffe | |
| Ulu Grosbard | The Subject Was Roses | |
| Alan Schneider | Tiny Alice | |
| 1966 20th Tony Awards | ||
| Peter Brook | Marat/Sade | |
| Hilton Edwards | Philadelphia, Here I Come! | |
| Ellis Rabb | You Can't Take It with You | |
| Noel Willman | The Lion in Winter | |
| 1967 21st Tony Awards | ||
| Peter Hall | The Homecoming | |
| John Dexter | Black Comedy | |
| Donald Driver | Marat/Sade | |
| Alan Schneider | A Delicate Balance | |
| 1968 22nd Tony Awards | ||
| Mike Nichols | Plaza Suite | |
| Michael Blakemore | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | |
| Derek Goldby | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | |
| Alan Schneider | You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running | |
| 1969 23rd Tony Awards | ||
| Peter Dews | Hadrian VII | |
| Joseph Hardy | Play It Again, Sam | |
| Harold Pinter | The Man in the Glass Booth | |
| Michael A. Schultz | Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? |
1970s[]
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 24th Tony Awards | ||
| Joseph Hardy | Child's Play | |
| Milton Katselas | Butterflies Are Free | |
| Tómas Mac Anna | Borstal Boy | |
| Robert Moore | Last of the Red Hot Lovers | |
| 1971 25th Tony Awards | ||
| Peter Brook | A Midsummer Night's Dream | |
| Lindsay Anderson | Home | |
| Stephen Porter | The School for Wives | |
| Clifford Williams | Sleuth | |
| 1972 26th Tony Awards | ||
| Mike Nichols | The Prisoner of Second Avenue | |
| Jeff Bleckner | Sticks and Bones | |
| Gordon Davidson | The Trial of the Catsville Nine | |
| Peter Hall | Old Times | |
| 1973 27th Tony Awards | ||
| A. J. Antoon | That Championship Season | |
| A. J. Antoon | Much Ado About Nothing | |
| Alan Arkin | The Sunshine Boys | |
| Michael Rudman | The Changing Room | |
| 1974 28th Tony Awards | ||
| José Quintero | A Moon for the Misbegotten | |
| Burgess Meredith | Ulysses in Nighttown | |
| Mike Nichols | Uncle Vanya | |
| Stephen Porter | Chemin de Fer | |
| Edwin Sherin | Find Your Way Home | |
| 1975 29th Tony Awards | ||
| John Dexter | Equus | |
| Arvin Brown | The National Health | |
| Frank Dunlop | Scapino | |
| Ronald Eyre | London Assurance | |
| Athol Fugard | Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island | |
| Gene Saks | Same Time, Next Year | |
| 1976 30th Tony Awards | ||
| Ellis Rabb | The Royal Family | |
| Arvin Brown | Ah, Wilderness! | |
| Marshall W. Mason | Knock Knock | |
| Peter Wood | Travesties | |
| 1977 31st Tony Awards | ||
| Gordon Davidson | The Shadow Box | |
| Ulu Grosbard | American Buffalo | |
| Mike Nichols | Comedians | |
| Streamers | ||
| 1978 32nd Tony Awards | ||
| Melvin Bernhardt | Da | |
| Robert Moore | Deathtrap | |
| Mike Nichols | The Gin Game | |
| Dennis Rosa | Dracula | |
| 1979 33rd Tony Awards | ||
| Jack Hofsiss | The Elephant Man | |
| Alan Ayckbourn and Peter Hall | Bedroom Farce | |
| Paul Giovanni | The Crucifer of Blood | |
| Michael Lindsay-Hogg | Whose Life Is It Anyway? |
1980s[]
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 34th Tony Awards | ||
| Vivian Matalon | Morning's at Seven | |
| Gordon Davidson | Children of a Lesser God | |
| Peter Hall | Betrayal | |
| Marshall W. Mason | Talley's Folly | |
| 1981 35th Tony Awards | ||
| Peter Hall | Amadeus | |
| Peter Coe | A Life | |
| Marshall W. Mason | Fifth of July | |
| Austin Pendleton | The Little Foxes | |
| 1982 36th Tony Awards | ||
| John Caird and Trevor Nunn | The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | |
| Melvin Bernhardt | Crimes of the Heart | |
| Geraldine Fitzgerald | Mass Appeal | |
| Athol Fugard | "Master Harold"...and the Boys | |
| 1983 37th Tony Awards | ||
| Gene Saks | Brighton Beach Memoirs | |
| Marshall W. Mason | Angels Fall | |
| Tom Moore | 'Night, Mother | |
| Trevor Nunn | All's Well That Ends Well | |
| 1984 38th Tony Awards | ||
| Mike Nichols | The Real Thing | |
| Michael Blakemore | Noises Off | |
| David Leveaux | A Moon for the Misbegotten | |
| Gregory Mosher | Glengarry Glen Ross | |
| 1985 39th Tony Awards | ||
| Gene Saks | Biloxi Blues | |
| Keith Hack | Strange Interlude | |
| Terry Hands | Much Ado About Nothing | |
| Marshall W. Mason | As Is | |
| 1986 40th Tony Awards | ||
| Jerry Zaks | The House of Blue Leaves | |
| Jonathan Miller | Long Day's Journey Into Night | |
| José Quintero | The Iceman Cometh | |
| John Tillinger | Loot | |
| 1987 41st Tony Awards | ||
| Lloyd Richards | Fences | |
| Howard Davies | Les Liaisons Dangereuses | |
| Mbongeni Ngema | Asinamali! | |
| Carole Rothman | Coastal Disturbances | |
| 1988 42nd Tony Awards | ||
| John Dexter | M. Butterfly | |
| Gregory Mosher | Speed-the-Plow | |
| Lloyd Richards | Joe Turner's Come and Gone | |
| Clifford Williams | Breaking the Code | |
| 1989 43rd Tony Awards | ||
| Jerry Zaks | Lend Me a Tenor | |
| Bill Irwin | Largely New York | |
| Gregory Mosher | Our Town | |
| Daniel J. Sullivan | The Heidi Chronicles |
1990s[]
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 44th Tony Awards | ||
| Frank Galati | The Grapes of Wrath | |
| Michael Blakemore | Lettice and Lovage | |
| Peter Hall | The Merchant of Venice | |
| Lloyd Richards | The Piano Lesson | |
| 1991 45th Tony Awards | ||
| Jerry Zaks | Six Degrees of Separation | |
| Richard Jones | La Bête | |
| Mark Lamos | Our Country's Good | |
| Gene Saks | Lost in Yonkers | |
| 1992 46th Tony Awards | ||
| Patrick Mason | Dancing at Lughnasa | |
| Peter Hall | Four Baboons Adoring the Sun | |
| Jack O'Brien | Two Shakespearean Actors | |
| Daniel J. Sullivan | Conversations with My Father | |
| 1993 47th Tony Awards | ||
| George C. Wolfe | Angels in America: Millennium Approaches | |
| David Leveaux | Anna Christie | |
| Eric Simonson | The Song of Jacob Zulu | |
| Daniel J. Sullivan | The Sisters Rosensweig | |
| 1994 48th Tony Awards | ||
| Stephen Daldry | An Inspector Calls | |
| Gerald Gutierrez | Abe Lincoln in Illinois | |
| Michael Langham | Timon of Athens | |
| George C. Wolfe | Angels in America: Perestroika | |
| 1995 49th Tony Awards | ||
| Gerald Gutierrez | The Heiress | |
| Emily Mann | Having Our Say | |
| Joe Mantello | Love! Valour! Compassion! | |
| Sean Mathias | Indiscretions | |
| 1996 50th Tony Awards | ||
| Gerald Gutierrez | A Delicate Balance | |
| Peter Hall | An Ideal Husband | |
| Lloyd Richards | Seven Guitars | |
| Gary Sinise | Buried Child | |
| 1997 51st Tony Awards | ||
| Anthony Page | A Doll's House | |
| John Caird | Stanley | |
| Richard Eyre | Skylight | |
| Charles Nelson Reilly | The Gin Game | |
| 1998 52nd Tony Awards | ||
| Garry Hynes | The Beauty Queen of Leenane | |
| Michael Mayer | A View from the Bridge | |
| Simon McBurney | The Chairs | |
| Matthew Warchus | 'Art' | |
| 1999 53rd Tony Awards | ||
| Robert Falls | Death of a Salesman | |
| Howard Davies | The Iceman Cometh | |
| Garry Hynes | The Lonesome West | |
| Trevor Nunn | Not About Nightingales |
2000s[]
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 54th Tony Awards | ||
| Michael Blakemore | Copenhagen | |
| James Lapine | Dirty Blonde | |
| David Leveaux | The Real Thing | |
| Matthew Warchus | True West | |
| 2001 55th Tony Awards | ||
| Daniel J. Sullivan | Proof | |
| Marion McClinton | King Hedley II | |
| Ian McElhinney | Stones in His Pockets | |
| Jack O'Brien | The Invention of Love | |
| 2002 56th Tony Awards | ||
| Mary Zimmerman | Metamorphoses | |
| Howard Davies | Private Lives | |
| Richard Eyre | The Crucible | |
| Daniel J. Sullivan | Morning's at Seven | |
| 2003 57th Tony Awards | ||
| Joe Mantello | Take Me Out | |
| Laurence Boswell | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | |
| Robert Falls | Long Day's Journey Into Night | |
| Deborah Warner | Medea | |
| 2004 58th Tony Awards | ||
| Jack O'Brien | Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 | |
| Doug Hughes | Frozen | |
| Moises Kaufman | I Am My Own Wife | |
| David Leveaux | Jumpers | |
| 2005 59th Tony Awards | ||
| Doug Hughes | Doubt: A Parable | |
| John Crowley | The Pillowman | |
| Scott Ellis | Twelve Angry Men | |
| Joe Mantello | Glengarry Glen Ross | |
| 2006 60th Tony Awards | ||
| Nicholas Hytner | The History Boys | |
| Wilson Milam | The Lieutenant of Inishmore | |
| Bartlett Sher | Awake and Sing! | |
| Daniel J. Sullivan | Rabbit Hole | |
| 2007 61st Tony Awards | ||
| Jack O'Brien | The Coast of Utopia | |
| Michael Grandage | Frost/Nixon | |
| David Grindley | Journey's End | |
| Melly Still | Coram Boy | |
| 2008 62nd Tony Awards | ||
| Anna D. Shapiro | August: Osage County | |
| Maria Aitken | The 39 Steps | |
| Conor McPherson | The Seafarer | |
| Matthew Warchus | Boeing Boeing | |
| 2009 63rd Tony Awards | ||
| Matthew Warchus | God of Carnage | |
| Phyllida Lloyd | Mary Stuart | |
| Bartlett Sher | Joe Turner's Come and Gone | |
| Matthew Warchus | The Norman Conquests |
2010s[]
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 64th Tony Awards | ||
| Michael Grandage | Red | |
| Sheryl Kaller | Next Fall | |
| Kenny Leon | Fences | |
| Gregory Mosher | A View from the Bridge | |
| 2011 65th Tony Awards | ||
| Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris | War Horse | |
| Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe | The Normal Heart | |
| Anna D. Shapiro | The Motherfucker with the Hat | |
| Daniel J. Sullivan | The Merchant of Venice | |
| 2012 66th Tony Awards | ||
| Mike Nichols | Death of a Salesman | |
| Nicholas Hytner | One Man, Two Guvnors | |
| Pam MacKinnon | Clybourne Park | |
| Roger Rees and Alex Timbers | Peter and the Starcatcher | |
| 2013 67th Tony Awards | ||
| Pam MacKinnon | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| Nicholas Martin | Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike | |
| Bartlett Sher | Golden Boy | |
| George C. Wolfe | Lucky Guy | |
| 2014 68th Tony Awards | ||
| Kenny Leon | A Raisin in the Sun | |
| Tim Carroll | Twelfth Night | |
| Michael Grandage | The Cripple of Inishmaan | |
| John Tiffany | The Glass Menagerie | |
| 2015 69th Tony Awards | ||
| Marianne Elliott | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | |
| Stephen Daldry | Skylight | |
| Scott Ellis | You Can't Take It with You | |
| Jeremy Herrin | Wolf Hall Parts One & Two | |
| Moritz von Stuelpnagel | Hand to God | |
| 2016 70th Tony Awards | ||
| Ivo van Hove | A View from the Bridge | |
| Rupert Goold | King Charles III | |
| Jonathan Kent | Long Day's Journey into Night | |
| Joe Mantello | The Humans | |
| Liesl Tommy | Eclipsed | |
| 2017 71st Tony Awards | ||
| Rebecca Taichman | Indecent | |
| Sam Gold | A Doll's House, Part 2 | |
| Ruben Santiago-Hudson | Jitney | |
| Bartlett Sher | Oslo | |
| Daniel J. Sullivan | The Little Foxes | |
| 2018 72nd Tony Awards | ||
| John Tiffany | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | |
| Marianne Elliott | Angels in America | |
| Joe Mantello | Three Tall Women | |
| Patrick Marber | Travesties | |
| George C. Wolfe | The Iceman Cometh | |
| 2019 73rd Tony Awards | ||
| Sam Mendes | The Ferryman | |
| Rupert Goold | Ink | |
| Ivo van Hove | Network | |
| Bartlett Sher | To Kill a Mockingbird | |
| George C. Wolfe | Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus |
2020s[]
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 74th Tony Awards | ||
| Stephen Daldry | The Inheritance | |
| David Cromer | The Sound Inside | |
| Kenny Leon | A Soldier's Play | |
| Jamie Lloyd | Betrayal | |
| Robert O'Hara | Slave Play |
Award records[]
Multiple wins[]
- 6 Wins
- Mike Nichols
- 3 Wins
- Jerry Zaks
- 2 Wins
- Peter Brook
- Stephen Daldry
- John Dexter
- Marianne Elliott
- Gerald Gutierrez
- Peter Hall
- Jack O'Brien
- Gene Saks
Multiple nominations[]
|
|
Female winners[]
Only 6 women have won this award:[1]
- Garry Hynes – The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1998)[2]
- Mary Zimmerman – Metamorphoses (2002)[3]
- Anna D. Shapiro – August: Osage County (2008)[4]
- Pam MacKinnon – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? revival (2013)[5]
- Marianne Elliott – War Horse (2011) (shared with Tom Morris)[6] and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2015),[7] making her the only woman to win this award more than once
- Rebecca Taichman – Indecent (2017)[8]
See also[]
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director
References[]
- ^ Clement, Olivia. "Can You Name the 9 Trailblazing Women Who Won Tony Awards for Directing?" Playbill, September 28, 2017
- ^ "Best Direction of a Play Garry Hynes" Playbill, retrieved September 27, 2017
- ^ "2002 Tony Award Direction of a Play" Playbill, retrieved September 27, 2017
- ^ "Just the Facts: List of 2008 Tony Award Winners and Nominees" Playbill, retrieved September 27, 2017
- ^ "Tony Awards 2013 List of Winners" CBS News, retrieved September 27, 2017
- ^ [1] Variety, retrieved September 27, 2017
- ^ "2015 Tony Awards Just the Winners Please" Playbill, retrieved September 27, 2017
- ^ "Tony Winners List" The New York Times, retrieved September 27, 2017
External links[]
Categories:
- Tony Awards
- Awards established in 1960
- 1960 establishments in the United States