New York Drama Critics' Circle

The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 23 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.^[1][2]

The organization was founded in 1935 at the Algonquin Hotel by a group that included Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley. Adam Feldman of Time Out New York has been President of the organization since 2005; Zachary Stewart of TheaterMania is currently Vice President, and Helen Shaw of The New Yorker serves as Treasurer.^[2][3]

Although Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times was the first President of the NYDCC, Times critics are no longer permitted to be members of the group. In 1989, the newspaper's executive editor decreed that their critics could no longer participate in any awards voting. Times critics remained in the organization as non-voting members until 1997, when the newspaper reversed its policy and allowed its critics to resume voting for the awards. However, in 2003, the newspaper adopted a revised ethics policy that forbade its journalists from membership in an awards-voting body, and its critics withdrew from the NYDCC.^[4] As of 2025, the Times's policy against membership remains in effect.^[5]

The New York Drama Critics' Circle meets twice a year. At the end of each theater season, it votes on the annual New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, the second oldest playwriting award in the United States (after the Pulitzer Prize). The main award is for Best Play. Since 1945, the Circle has also given out awards for Best Musical; in 2025, it introduced new awards for Best Individual Performance and Best Ensemble Performance. Special Citations may also be awarded for actors, companies, or work of special merit. The award for Best Play includes a cash prize of $2,500.^[6] The awards are presented in a private ceremony.

The New York Drama Critics' Circle Award was conceived as an alternative to the Pulitzer Prize, and was initially limited to works by American playwrights. In 1938, the Circle began awarding a second prize, Best Foreign Play, to works of foreign origin. In the 1962–63 season, the Circle changed its rules so that the top winner, Best Play, could be of either American or foreign original, with the option for a secondary play award: If the winner of Best Play was of American origin, the Circle considered giving an award for Best Foreign Play as well; if the Best Play winner was of foreign origin, the Circle considered giving an award for Best American Play. No such secondary awards were given until 1970, after which they became more common. They were formally discontinued in 2025.^[7]

A missing year in any section below indicates that the award was not given that year.

• 2025: Andrew Scott – Vanya

• 2025: The cast of Bess Wohl's Liberation

• Tony Awards
• Drama Desk Awards
• Obie Awards
• Laurence Olivier Awards
• London Critics' Circle Theatre Awards

• "Performing Arts Awards: New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards". Infoplease.com. 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
• Jones, Kenneth (May 11, 2006). "NY Drama Critics' Circle Awards Go to History Boys, Drowsy Chaperone, Sweeney Todd and Ebersole". Playbill. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
• "New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards Go to Utopia, Spring, Golf and Journey's End". Broadway.com. May 7, 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
• Gans, Andrew (May 4, 2009). "Ruined, Billy Elliot and Black Watch Win New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards". Playbill. Retrieved May 26, 2018.

• New York Drama Critics' Circle official site