The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

. As the

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

cover

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

productions, the Obie Awards cover

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...

productions.

Background

Julie Bavasso Shelly Winters Jason Robards 1956 Obie Awards

The Obie Awards were initiated by Edwin (Ed) Fancher, publisher of ''The Village Voice,'' who handled the financing and business side of the project. They were first given in 1956 under the direction of theater critic Jerry Tallmer. Initially, only off-Broadway productions were eligible; in 1964, off-off-Broadway productions were made eligible. The first Obie Awards ceremony was held at Helen Gee's cafe.Aletti, Vince
"Helen Gee 1919–2004"
''Village Voice'' (New York City), 12 October 2004, accessed on 21 November 2013 With the exception of the Lifetime Achievement and Best New American Play awards, there are no fixed categories at the Obie Awards, and the winning actors and actresses are all in a single category titled "Performance." There are no announced nominations. Awards in the past have included

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

, direction, best production,

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

, special citations, and sustained achievement. Not every category is awarded every year. ''The Village Voice'' also awards annual Obie grants to selected companies; in 2011, these grants were $2,000 each to

Metropolitan Playhouse The Metropolitan Playhouse is a resident producing theater in New York City's East Village. Founded in 1992, the theater is devoted to presenting plays that explore American culture and history, including seldom-produced, "lost" American plays an ...

and

Wakka Wakka Productions Wakka Wakka Productions is a non-profit New York theatre company founded in 2001. In 2011 the company won an Obie AwardGans, Andrew." 'Chad Deity', Ethan Hawke, Laurie Metcalf, Thomas Sadoski, Charlayne Woodard Win Obie Awards" playbill.com, May 16 ...

.Gans, Andre
" 'Chad Deity', Ethan Hawke, Laurie Metcalf, Thomas Sadoski, Charlayne Woodard Win Obie Awards"
playbill.com, May 16, 2011 There is also a Ross Wetzsteon Grant, named after its former theater editor, in the amount of $2,000 (in 2009; in 2011 the grant was $1,000), for a theatre that nurtures innovative new plays. The first awards in 1955-1956 for plays and musicals were given to ''Absalom'' (Lionel Abel) as Best New Play, ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the direct ...

'', Best All-Around Production and ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'' as Best Musical. Other awards for off-Broadway theatre are the

Lucille Lortel Awards The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

, the

Drama Desk Awards The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

, the

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

, and the

Outer Critics Circle Awards The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

. As of September 2014, the Obie Awards are jointly presented by the American Theatre Wing and the ''Village Voice'', with the Wing having "overall responsibility for running" the Awards.

Award categories

Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress The Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress was first presented in 1956. The award has no nominees and there is no set number of winners per year. Each performance listed by year below was given an award and they are listed in no pa ...

* Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actor * Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Ensemble * Sustained Achievement Award * Best New American Theatre Work Award * Playwriting Award * Design Award * Special Citations * Obie Grants * The Ross Wetzsteon Award

Ceremony history

Obie Award ceremonies have been held at

Webster Hall Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's East Village since the 2010-2011 season.

Notable winners

Winners from Infoplease.com

"OBIE winners, 2011–2012"
playbill.com
"OBIE winners, 2012–2013"
playbill.com
"OBIE winners, 2013–2014"
playbill.com
"OBIE winners, 2014–2015"
playbill.com
"OBIE winners, 2015–2016"
playbill.com * OBIE winners, 2017 * OBIE winners, 2018 *OBIE winners, 2019 *OBIE winners, 2020 2010s 2000s

Grants

Obie Grants are awarded each year to select theatre companies. Previous recipients include: Ross Wetzsteon Award is a $2,000 grant awarded to a theatre that nurture innovative new plays. Previous recipients include:

References

External links

* {{OBIE Plays American theater awards Awards established in 1956 1956 establishments in New York City