Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award

Outer Critics Circle
John Gassner Award
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)
WebsiteOuterCriticsCircle.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.

Award winners and nominees

Key

  and bold indicates winner

1970s

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

Year Playwright Play Ref.
2000
Charles Busch The Tale of the Allergist's Wife [31][32]
David Lindsay-Abaire Fuddy Meers
Kenneth Lonergan The Waverly Gallery
Joan Vail Thorne The Exact Center of the Universe
2001
David Auburn Proof [33][34]
Pamela Gien The Syringa Tree
Rebecca Gilman Boy Gets Girl
Kenneth Lonergan Lobby Hero
2002
Suzan-Lori Parks Topdog/Underdog [35][36]
Rebecca Gilman The Glory of Living
Richard Greenberg The Dazzle
Naomi Iizuka 36 Views
2003
Matthew Barber Enchanted April [37][38]
Stephen Adly Guirgis Our Lady of 121st Street
Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank The Exonerated
Louis Mustillo Bartenders
Dael Orlandersmith Yellowman
2004
Lynn Nottage Intimate Apparel [39][40]
Nilo Cruz Anna in the Tropics
Tracy Letts Bug
Tristine Skyler The Moonlight Room
2005
Ron Hutchinson Moonlight and Magnolias [41][42]
David Folwell Boise
Gina Gionfriddo After Ashley
2006
Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter In the Continuum [43][44]
Rolin Jones The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow
Adam Rapp Red Light Winter
Rinne Groff The Ruby Sunrise
2007
Nilaja Sun No Child . . . [45][46]
Daisy Foote Bhutan
Bob Glaudini Jack Goes Boating
Bruce Norris The Pain and the Itch
2008
Liz Flahive From Up Here [47][48]
Bob Clyman Secret Order
George Packer Betrayed
Michael Hollinger Opus
2009
Gina Gionfriddo Becky Shaw [49][50]
Annie Baker Body Awareness
Beau Willimon Farragut North

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

2020s

Year Playwright Play Ref.
2020 (Hon.) Catya McMullen Georgia Mertching Is Dead [72][73]
Will Arbery Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Alexis Scheer Our Dear Dead Drug Lord
Eboni Booth Paris
2021 No award given due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2022
Sanaz Toossi English [74][75]
Erika Dickerson-Despenza Cullud Wattah
Sylvia Khoury Selling Kabul
Dave Harris Tambo & Bones
Keenan Scott II Thoughts of a Colored Man
2023
James Ijames Fat Ham [76]
Ryan J. Haddad Dark Disabled Stories
Brian Watkins Epiphany
Hansol Jung Wolf Play
Noah Diaz You Will Get Sick
2024
Cole Escola Oh, Mary! [77]
Max Wolf Friedlich Job
Mary Kathryn Nagle Manhatta
Kate Douglas The Apiary
John J. Caswell Jr. Wet Brain
2025
George Clooney and Grant Heslov Good Night, and Good Luck [78][79]
Marin Ireland Pre-Existing Condition
Em Weinstein Becoming Eve
Amy Berryman Walden
Lia Romeo Still

Multiple nominations

2 nominations

References

  1. ^ a b "1971–1972 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  2. ^ "About the Outer Critics Circle". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  3. ^ "1973–1974 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  4. ^ "1974–1975 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  5. ^ "1976–1977 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  6. ^ "1978–1979 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  7. ^ "1979–1980 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  8. ^ "1980–1981 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  9. ^ "1981–1982 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  10. ^ "1982–1983 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  11. ^ "1983–1984 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  12. ^ "1984–1985 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  13. ^ "1985–1986 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  14. ^ "1986–1987 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  15. ^ "1987–1988 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  16. ^ "1988–1989 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  17. ^ "1989–1990 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  18. ^ Rich, Frank (May 1, 1990). "Outer Critics Awards to Grapes and Angels". The New York Times. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  19. ^ "1990–1991 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  20. ^ "1991–1992 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  21. ^ "1992–1993 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
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  37. ^ "2002–2003 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
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  51. ^ "2009–2010 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
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