Dark Disabled Stories and Downstate Among 67th Obie Winners

Francis Guinan and K. Todd Freeman
in Downstate.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Dark Disabled Stories, Downstate, and The Comeuppance were among the winners of the 67th annual Obie Awards, presented by the American Theater Wing on Jan. 27 for excellence in Off and Off-Off-Broadway theater. The official 67^th Obie Awards season includes shows that opened between September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2023. 

This year instead of a live ceremony, the Obies were presented on NY-1's On Stage program. In lieu of the annual awards ceremony, the American Theatre Wing dedicated funds to the support and growth of the artists, by bestowing winners with grants ranging from $1,000-5,000.

The winners of The 67^th Obie Awards are:

 
BEST NEW AMERICAN PLAY

• Ryan J. Haddad, Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater)

PLAYWRITING

• Hansol Jung, Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company)
• Bruce Norris, Downstate (Playwrights Horizons | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |National Theatre)

DIRECTION

• Dustin Wills, Montag (Soho Rep), Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons and MCC Theater), and Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company)
• Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company)
• Faye Driscoll, Weathering (New York Live Arts)

 
SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

• Eric Ting, The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company)
• Pam MacKinnon, Downstate (Playwrights Horizons | Steppenwolf Theatre Company| National Theatre)

 
PERFORMANCE

• William Jackson Harper, Primary Trust (Roundabout Theatre Company)
• Marla Mindelle, Titanique (Eva Price)
• Zuleyma Guevara, Sancocho (The Sol Project | Latinx Playwrights Circle | WP Theater)
• Maryann Plunkett, Deep Blue Sound (Clubbed Thumb)

 
SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE

• Shannon Tyo, The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company), The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Company), and Regretfully, So The Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons | WP Theater)
• John Douglas Thompson, Endgame (Irish Repertory Theatre) and Hamlet (The Public Theater)
• K. Todd Freeman, Downstate (Playwrights Horizons)

 
DESIGN

• Enver Chakartash (Costumes), Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company), Toros (Second Stage Theater), The Trees (Playwrights Horizons | Page 73), Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company), Catch As Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons), and I’m Revolting (Atlantic Theater Company)
• Barbara Samuels (Lights), Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company), Wolf Play (MCC Theater | Soho Rep | Ma-Yi Theater Company), Becky Nurse of Salem (Lincoln Center Theater), and Toros (Second Stage Theater)

 
SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN DESIGN

• dots (Sets) Collective: Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, Andrew Moerdyk, and Kimie Nishikawa, Public Obscenities (Soho Rep | National Asian American Theatre Company), Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater), Events (The Hearth Theater Company), Infinite Life (Atlantic Theater Company), Deep Blue Sound (Clubbed Thumb), and Grief Hotel (Clubbed Thumb)
• Mikaal Sulaiman (Sound), The Half God of Rainfall (New York Theatre Workshop), Primary Trust (Roundabout Theatre), Des Moines (Theatre For A New Audience), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (The New Group)

The cast of The Comeuppance
Credit: Joan Marcus

 
SPECIAL CITATIONS

• Ensemble of Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater) Ryan J. Haddad, Dickie Hearts, and Alejandra Ospina
• Design Team of Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizon | MCC Theater): Kate Noll (Set), Cha See (Lights), Haydee Zelideth Antuñano (Costumes), Tei Blow (Co-Sound), John Gasper (Co-Sound), and Nick Hussong (Projections)
• Ensemble of The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company) Brittany Bradford, Caleb Eberhardt, Susannah Flood, Bobby Moreno, and Shannon Tyo
• Liza Birkenmeier (Writer) and Tara Ahmadinejad (Director) of Grief Hotel (Clubbed Thumb)
• Lead Actors of Montag (Soho Rep) Ariana Venturi and Nadine Malouf
• Intimacy Coordinators of Color and Ann C. James (Founder and Mentor)

 
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

• Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver (writing and performing duo of Split Britches)
• Carole Rothman (Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Second Stage)

THEATRE GRANTS

• Breaking the Binary Theatre Company
• Dominican Artists Collective (DAC)
• The Brick

ROSS WETZSTEON AWARD

• Under the Radar Festival (Mark Russell as Founder)

MICHAEL FEINGOLD AWARD

• Andrew Morrill for their work as Director of Artistic Sign Language and Alison Kopit for Access Dramaturgy of Dark Disabled Stories (The Bushwick Starr | The Public Theater)