The New York Drama Critics’ Circle, which was founded in 1935 and of which I am a longtime member, voted yesterday afternoon to determine the winners of its eighty-fourth annual awards. They were announced immediately after the votes were counted:
• BEST PLAY: The Ferryman (Jez Butterworth)
• BEST AMERICAN PLAY: What the Constitution Means to Me (Heidi Schreck)
• BEST MUSICAL: Tootsie (David Yazbek and Robert Horn)
• SPECIAL CITATIONS: Irish Repertory Theatre; Page 73; Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish
For the record, my choices were Tracy Letts’ Mary Page Marlowe for both best play and best American play and Conor McPherson’s Girl from the North Country for best musical. I voted for Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem for best foreign play, but the fact that the best-play award went to The Ferryman meant that no separate award was given in that category. I also voted for the Irish Repertory Theatre. (I have not seen Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish or any work by Page 73.)
From the press release:
To read a detailed account of the proceedings, go here.The New York Drama Critics’ Circle comprises 19 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines, wire services and websites based in the New York metropolitan area. The New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, which has been awarded every year since 1936 to the best new play of the season (with optional awards for foreign or American plays, musicals and special achievements), is the nation’s second-oldest theater award, after the Pulitzer Prize for drama.