Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Awarded forOutstanding New American Play
LocationNew York City
Presented byOuter Critics Circle
Currently held byGeorge Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck (2025)
| Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding New American Play |
| Location | New York City |
| Presented by | Outer Critics Circle |
| Currently held by | George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck (2025) |
| Website | OuterCriticsCircle.org |
The Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award is an honor presented at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, a ceremony established in 1950 for excellence in Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, to playwrights of new plays. The award was first presented in the 1971–1972 season.[1]
The award is named for John Gassner, who helped establish the Outer Critics Circle in 1950 along with his colleagues, writers for academic and specialized publications.[2] It is presented to a new American play, ideally by a new playwright.
Despite this, several playwrights have been nominated two times, including John Logan, Kenneth Lonergan, Rebecca Gilman, Gina Gionfriddo, Bruce Norris, Matthew López, Ayad Akhtar and Lindsey Ferrentino. No playwright has won the award more than once.
1970s
- Key
and bold indicates winner
| Year | Playwright | Play | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | |||
| Jason Miller | That Championship Season | [1] | |
| 1973 | No award given. | ||
| 1974 | |||
| Mark Medoff | When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? | [3] | |
| 1975 | |||
| Leslie Lee | The First Breeze of Summer | [4] | |
| 1976 | No award given. | ||
| 1977 | |||
| Preston Jones | A Texas Trilogy | [5] | |
| 1978 | No award given. | ||
| 1979 | |||
| Marsha Norman | Getting Out | [6] | |
1980s
| Year | Playwright | Play | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | |||
| Samm-Art Williams | Home | [7] | |
| 1981 | |||
| Ted Tally | Coming Attractions | [8] | |
| 1982 | |||
| Bill C. Davis | Mass Appeal | [9] | |
| 1983 | |||
| William Mastrosimone | Extremities | [10] | |
| 1984 | |||
| Tina Howe | Painting Churches | [11] | |
| 1985 | |||
| Larry Shue | The Foreigner | [12] | |
| 1986 | |||
| Herb Gardner | I'm Not Rappaport | [13] | |
| 1987 | |||
| August Wilson | Fences | [14] | |
| 1988 | |||
| David Henry Hwang | M. Butterfly | [15] | |
| 1989 | |||
| Jerry Sterner | Other People’s Money | [16] |
1990s
| Year | Playwright | Play | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | |||
| Aaron Sorkin | A Few Good Men | [17][18] | |
| 1991 | |||
| David Hirson | La Bête | [19] | |
| 1992 | |||
| Scott McPherson | Marvin’s Room | [20] | |
| Lynda Barry | The Good Times Are Killing Me | ||
| Endesha Ida Mae Holland | From the Mississippi Delta | ||
| Donald Margulies | Sight Unseen | ||
| 1993 | |||
| Paul Rudnick | Jeffrey | [21][22] | |
| 1994 | |||
| David Ives | All in the Timing | [23] | |
| 1995 | |||
| Anne Meara | After-Play | [24][25] | |
| 1996 | |||
| Steve Martin | Picasso at the Lapin Agile | [26] | |
| 1997 | No award given. | ||
| 1998 | |||
| Douglas Carter Beane | As Bees in Honey Drown | [27][28] | |
| Warren Leight | Side Man | ||
| John Logan | Never the Sinner | ||
| Nicky Silver | The Maiden’s Prayer | ||
| 1999 | |||
| Margaret Edson | Wit | [29][30] | |
| David Marshall Grant | Snakebit | ||
| Diana Son | Stop Kiss | ||
| Chay Yew | Red | ||
2000s
2010s
| Year | Playwright | Play | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | |||
| Geoffrey Nauffts | Next Fall | [51][52] | |
| Bruce Norris | Clybourne Park | ||
| John Logan | Red | ||
| Jon Marans | The Temperamentals | ||
| 2011 | |||
| Matthew López | The Whipping Man | [53][54] | |
| Matthew López | After the Revolution | ||
| David West Read | The Dream of the Burning Boy | ||
| Kim Rosenstock | Tigers Be Still | ||
| 2012 | |||
| Jeff Talbott | The Submission | [55][56] | |
| Erika Sheffer | Russian Transport | ||
| Gabe McKinley | CQ/CX | ||
| Robert Askins | Hand to God | ||
| 2013 | |||
| Aaron Posner | My Name Is Asher Lev | [57][58] | |
| Ayad Akhtar | Disgraced | ||
| Joshua Harmon | Bad Jews | ||
| Paul Downs Colaizzo | Really Really | ||
| Samuel D. Hunter | The Whale | ||
| 2014 (tie) | |||
| Eric Dufault | Year of the Rooster | [59][60] | |
| Madeleine George | The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence | ||
| Steven Levenson | The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin | ||
| Scott Z. Burns | The Library | ||
| Lauren Yee | The Hatmaker’s Wife | ||
| 2015 | |||
| Ayad Akhtar | The Invisible Hand | [61][62] | |
| Halley Feiffer | I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard | ||
| Elizabeth Irwin | My Mañana Comes | ||
| Markus Potter | Stalking the Bogeyman | ||
| Benjamin Scheuer | The Lion | ||
| 2016 | |||
| Marco Ramirez | The Royale | [63][64][65] | |
| Lindsey Ferrentino | Ugly Lies the Bone | ||
| Lauren Gunderson | I and You | ||
| Martyna Majok | Ironbound | ||
| Anna Ziegler | Boy | ||
| 2017 | |||
| Bess Wohl | Small Mouth Sounds | [66][67] | |
| Jaclyn Backhaus | Men on Boats | ||
| Sarah DeLappe | The Wolves | ||
| Paola Lázaro | Tell Hector I Miss Him | ||
| Qui Nguyen | Vietgone | ||
| 2018 | |||
| Jocelyn Bioh | School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play | [68][69] | |
| Kate Benson | [porto] | ||
| Lindsey Ferrentino | Amy and the Orphans | ||
| Meghan Kennedy | Napoli, Brooklyn | ||
| Dominique Morisseau | Pipeline | ||
| 2019 | |||
| Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell | The Lifespan of a Fact | [70][71] | |
| Charly Evon Simpson | Behind the Sheet | ||
| Donja R. Love | Sugar in Our Wounds | ||
| Ming Peiffer | Usual Girls | ||
| Jeremy O. Harris | Slave Play |