Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play
Danya Taymor, 2025 winner
Awarded for	Outstanding Direction of a Play
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Presented by	Drama Desk
First award	1975
Currently held by	Danya Taymor for John Proctor is the Villain (2025)
Website	dramadesk.org (defunct)

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements by theatre directors across collective Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City, United States.^{[ citation needed ]} The awards were established in 1955, with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director being presented each year to a director from any play or musical production. Starting in 1975, the singular director's award was replaced by separate play and musical categories.^{[ citation needed ]}

Jack O'Brien and Jerry Zaks hold the record for most wins in the category, with three each. Daniel J. Sullivan holds the record for most nominations, with seven, followed closely by Joe Mantello with six and Mike Nichols with five. Mary Zimmerman was the first female winner, receiving the award in 2002 for Metamorphoses . Since her win, Anna D. Shapiro, Pam MacKinnon, Marianne Elliott, Rebecca Frecknall and current winner Danya Taymor have also won the award as female directors.

Winners and nominees

Key

  and bold indicates the winner.

1970s

Year	Director	Production
1975
	John Dexter	Equus
	Frank Dunlop	Sherlock Holmes
	Athol Fugard	Sizwe Banzi Is Dead
		The Island
	Peter H. Hunt	Goodtime Charlie
	Ron Link	Women Behind Bars
	Gene Saks	Same Time, Next Year
1976
	Ellis Rabb	The Royal Family
	Edward Albee	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
	Arvin Brown	Dual Bill
	Mike Nichols	Streamers
	Stephen Porter	They Knew What They Wanted
	Tom Signorelli	Lamppost Reunion
1977
	Mike Nichols	Comedians
	Alan Schneider	A Texas Trilogy
	Frank Dunlop	The New York Idea
	Tony Giordano	G.R. Point
	Ulu Grosbard	American Buffalo
	Oz Scott	For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
1978
	Melvin Bernhardt	Da
	Peter Bennett	Dracula
	Joseph Chaikin	The Dybbuk
	Mike Nichols	The Gin Game
	Steven Robman	Uncommon Women
	Garland Wright	K
1979
	Jack Hofsiss	The Elephant Man
	Alan Ayckbourn	Bedroom Farce
	John Madden	Wings
	Stephen Porter	Man and Superman
	Horacena J. Taylor	Nevis Mt. Dew
	Ted Weiant	The Miracle Worker

1980s

Year	Director	Production
1980
	Vivian Matalon	Morning's at Seven
	Kevin Conway	Mecca
	Gordon Davidson	Children of a Lesser God
	Lynne Gannaway and Robert Kalfin	Strider
	Marshall W. Mason	Talley's Folly
	Alan Schneider	Loose Ends
1981
	Peter Hall	Amadeus
	Melvin Bernhardt	Crimes of the Heart
	Geraldine Fitzgerald	Mass Appeal
	Douglas Seale	The Winslow Boy
1982
	Tommy Tune	Cloud Nine
	Athol Fugard	"Master Harold"...and the Boys
	Jacques Levy	Potsdam Quartet
	John Tillinger	Entertaining Mr Sloane
	Douglas Turner Ward	A Soldier's Play
1983
	Trevor Nunn	All's Well That Ends Well
	Robert Allan Ackerman	Extremities
	Michael Bennett	Third Street
	George C. Scott	Present Laughter
	Arthur Sherman	The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
	Gary Sinise	True West
1984
	Michael Blakemore	Noises Off
	Lee Grant	A Private View
	Gerald Gutierrez	Isn't It Romantic
	Terry Kinney	And a Nightingale Sang
	Gregory Mosher	Glengarry Glen Ross
	Mike Nichols	The Real Thing
1985
	John Malkovich	Balm in Gilead
	Ron Lagomarsino	Digby
	Marshall W. Mason	As Is
	Gene Saks	Biloxi Blues
	Claudia Weill	Found a Peanut
1986
	Jerry Zaks	The Marriage of Bette & Boo
		The House of Blue Leaves
	Liviu Ciulei	Hamlet
	Jonathan Miller	Long Day's Journey into Night
	Mary B. Robinson	Lemon Sky
	Gary Sinise	Orphans
	John Tillinger	It's Only a Play
		Loot
1987
	Howard Davies	Les Liaisons Dangereuses
	Simon Gray and Michael McGuire	The Common Pursuit
	Ron Lagomarsino	Driving Miss Daisy
	Lloyd Richards	Fences
	Carole Rothman	Coastal Disturbances
	Gene Saks	Broadway Bound
1988
	John Dexter	M. Butterfly
	W. H. Macy	Boys' Life
	Lynne Meadow	Woman in Mind
	Gregory Mosher	Speed-the-Plow
	Lloyd Richards	Joe Turner's Come and Gone
1989
	Jerry Zaks	Lend Me a Tenor
	Simon Callow	Shirley Valentine
	Robin Lefèvre	Aristocrats
	Jack O'Brien	The Cocktail Hour
	Norman René	Reckless
	Daniel Sullivan	The Heidi Chronicles

1990s

Year	Director	Production
1990
	Frank Galati	The Grapes of Wrath
	Roger Michell	Some Americans Abroad
	Adrian Noble	The Art of Success
	Norman René	Prelude to a Kiss
	Lloyd Richards	The Piano Lesson
1991
	Jerry Zaks	Six Degrees of Separation
	Michael Greif	Machinal
	Richard Jones	La Bête
	Kevin Kline	Hamlet
1992
	Patrick Mason	Dancing at Lughnasa
	JoAnne Akalaitis	'Tis Pity She's a Whore
	Michael Bloom	Sight Unseen
	David Chambers	Search and Destroy
	Mark Wing-Davey	Mad Forest
1993
	George C. Wolfe	Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
	Christopher Ashley	Jeffrey
	Adrian Hall	As You Like It
	Ariane Mnouchkine	Les Atrides
	Daniel Sullivan	The Sisters Rosensweig
1994
	Stephen Daldry	An Inspector Calls
	JoAnne Akalaitis	In the Summer House
	Jonathan Kent	Medea
	Mark Wing-Davey	The Lights
	Mary Zimmerman	Arabian Nights
1995
	Gerald Gutierrez	The Heiress
	Declan Donnellan	As You Like It
	David Esbjornson	Iphigenia and Other Daughters
	Emily Mann	Having Our Say
	Joe Mantello	Love! Valour! Compassion!
	Sean Mathias	Indiscretions
1996
	Gerald Gutierrez	A Delicate Balance
	Scott Elliott	The Monogamist
	Doug Hughes	The Grey Zone
	Adrian Noble	A Midsummer Night's Dream
	Lloyd Richards	Seven Guitars
	George C. Wolfe	The Tempest
1997
	Mark Brokaw	How I Learned to Drive
	Robert La Page	The Seven Streams of the River Ota
	Lynne Meadow	Nine Armenians
	Deborah Warner	The Waste Land
	Mark Wing-Davey	The Skriker
1998
	Michael Mayer	A View from the Bridge
		Side Man
	Scott Elliott	Goose-Pimples
	James Houghton	The American Clock
	Garry Hynes	The Beauty Queen of Leenane
	Joe Mantello	Mizlansky/Zilinsky or 'Schmucks'
	Simon McBurney	The Chairs
1999
	Trevor Nunn	Not About Nightingales
	Derek Anson Jones	Wit
	Howard Davies	The Iceman Cometh
	Robert Falls	Death of a Salesman
	Patrick Marber	Closer
	Nicholas Martin	Betty's Summer Vacation

2000s

Year	Director	Production
2000
	Michael Blakemore	Copenhagen
	Thomas Hulce and Jane Jones	The Cider House Rules (Part One)
	James Lapine	Dirty Blonde
	Michael Mayer	Uncle Vanya
	Marion McClinton	Jitney
	Daniel J. Sullivan	Dinner with Friends
2001
	Jack O'Brien	The Invention of Love
	Mark Brokaw	Lobby Hero
	Michael Greif	Dogeaters
	Philip Seymour Hoffman	Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train
	Jonathan Kent	Richard II
	Matthew Warchus	The Unexpected Man
2002
	Mary Zimmerman	Metamorphoses
	Howard Davies	Private Lives
	Richard Eyre	The Crucible
	Carl Forsman	The Voice of the Turtle
	Neil LaBute	The Shape of Things
	Bartlett Sher	Cymbeline
2003
	Robert Falls	Long Day's Journey into Night
	Philip Seymour Hoffman	Our Lady of 121st Street
	Joe Mantello	Take Me Out
	Sam Mendes	Twelfth Night
		Uncle Vanya
	Deborah Warner	Medea
2004
	Jack O'Brien	Henry IV
	Hilary Adams	Moby Dick
	Dexter Bullard	Bug
	Edward Hall	A Midsummer Night's Dream
	Moisés Kaufman	I Am My Own Wife
	Kenny Leon	A Raisin in the Sun
2005
	Doug Hughes	Doubt
	Josh Carlebach	Frankenstein
	Scott Elliott	Hurlyburly
	Scott Ellis	Twelve Angry Men
	Edward Hall	Rose Rage
	Joe Mantello	Glengarry Glen Ross
2006
	Nicholas Hytner	The History Boys
	Alan Ayckbourn	Private Fears in Public Places
	Gisela Cardenas	Agamemnon
	Daniel J. Sullivan	Stuff Happens
	Robert Wilson	Peer Gynt
	Jerry Zaks	The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
2007
	Jack O'Brien	The Coast of Utopia
	Declan Donnellan	Twelfth Night
	Michael Grandage	Frost/Nixon
	Doug Hughes	Inherit the Wind
	Ciaran O'Reilly	The Hairy Ape
	Tom Ridgely	Marco Millions
2008
	Anna D. Shapiro	August: Osage County
	David Schweizer	Horizon
	Leigh Silverman	From Up Here
	Jonathan Silverstein	The Dining Room
	Matthew Warchus	Boeing-Boeing
	Deborah Warner	Happy Days
2009
	Matthew Warchus	The Norman Conquests
	Sarah Benson	Blasted
	Michael Blakemore	Blithe Spirit
	Garry Hynes	The Cripple of Inishmaan
	Terry Kinney	reasons to be pretty
	Kate Whoriskey	Ruined

2010s

Year	Director	Production
2010
	Michael Grandage	Red
	Jonathan Bank	So Help Me God!
	Jack Cummings III	The Boys in the Band
	Sam Gold	Circle Mirror Transformation
	Michael Grandage	Hamlet
	Ethan Hawke	A Lie of the Mind
2011
	Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe	The Normal Heart
	Trip Cullman	A Small Fire
	Moisés Kaufman	Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
	Davis McCallum	A Bright New Boise
	Daniel J. Sullivan	The Merchant of Venice
	Kirjan Waage and Gwendolyn Warnock	Baby Universe
2012
	Mike Nichols	Death of a Salesman
	Jo Bonney	By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
	David Cromer	Tribes
	Ed Sylvanus Iskandar	These Seven Sicknesses
	Sam Mendes	Richard III
	Tony Speciale	Unnatural Acts
2013
	Pam MacKinnon	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
	Lear de Bessonet	The Good Person of Szechwan
	Sam Gold	Uncle Vanya
	Ed Sylvanus Iskandar	Restoration Comedy
	Lynne Meadow	The Assembled Parties
	Ruben Santiago-Hudson	The Piano Lesson
2014
	Tim Carroll	Twelfth Night
	Joe Calarco	A Christmas Carol
	Thomas Kail	Family Furniture
	Bill Rauch	All the Way
	Anna D. Shapiro	Domesticated
	Julie Taymor	A Midsummer Night's Dream
2015
	Marianne Elliott	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
	Jeremy Herrin	Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
	Anne Kauffman	You Got Older
	Lila Neugebauer	The Wayside Motor Inn
	Austin Pendleton	Between Riverside and Crazy
	Joe Tantalo	Deliverance
	John Tiffany	Let the Right One In
2016
	Ivo van Hove	A View from the Bridge
	Rachel Chavkin	The Royale
	Sam Gold	John
	Rupert Goold	King Charles III
	Joe Mantello	The Humans
	Jenn Thompson	Women Without Men
2017
	Ruben Santiago-Hudson	Jitney
	Anne Kauffman	A Life
	Richard Nelson	What Did You Expect? and Women of a Certain Age
	Daniel J. Sullivan	The Little Foxes
		If I Forget
2018
	John Tiffany	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
	Marianne Elliott	Angels in America
	Jeremy Herrin	People, Places and Things
	Joe Mantello	Three Tall Women
	Lila Neugebauer	Miles for Mary
	Simon Stone	Yerma
2019
	Sam Mendes	The Ferryman
	Sarah Benson	Fairview
	Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin	The Jungle
	Tyne Rafaeli	Usual Girls
	Taylor Reynolds	Plano
	Jeff Wise	Life Sucks

2020s

Year	Director	Production
2020
	Stephen Daldry	The Inheritance
	Jessica Blank	Coal Country
	John Ortiz	Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
	Tina Satter	Is This A Room
	Erica Schmidt	Mac Beth
2021	No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City [1]
2022
	Rebecca Frecknall	Sanctuary City
	Knud Adams	English
	Saheem Ali	Merry Wives
	Taibi Magar	Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
	Whitney White	On Sugarland
2023
	Max Webster	Life of Pi
	Zi Alikhan	On That Day in Amsterdam
	Shayok Misha Chowdhury	Public Obscenities
	Miranda Cromwell	Death of a Salesman
	Adam Meggido	Peter Pan Goes Wrong
	Alexander Zeldin	Love
2024 [2]	Daniel Aukin	Stereophonic
	Rupert Goold	The Hunt
	Kenny Leon	Purlie Victorious
	Lila Neugebauer	Appropriate
	Ciarán O’Reilly	Philadelphia, Here I Come!
2025 [3]
	Danya Taymor	John Proctor is the Villain
	David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan	The Antiquities
	Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin	Stranger Things: The First Shadow
	Tyne Rafaeli	Becoming Eve
	Jack Serio	Grangeville
	Whitney White	Liberation
	Kip Williams	The Picture of Dorian Gray

Multiple wins

3 wins

• Jack O'Brien
• Jerry Zaks

2 wins

• John Dexter
• Mike Nichols
• Trevor Nunn
• George C. Scott
• Michael Blakemore
• Gerald Gutierrez
• Stephen Daldry

Multiple nominations

7 nominations

• Daniel J. Sullivan

6 nominations

• Joe Mantello

5 nominations

• Mike Nichols

4 nominations

• George C. Scott
• Lloyd Richards
• Jack O'Brien
• Jerry Zaks
• Stephen Daldry
• Sam Mendes

3 nominations

• Athol Fugard
• Gene Saks
• John Tillinger
• Michael Blakemore
• Gerald Gutierrez
• Howard Davies
• Lynne Meadow
• Mark Wing-Davey
• Scott Elliott
• Doug Hughes
• Deborah Warner
• Matthew Warchus
• Michael Grandage
• Sam Gold
• Lila Neugebauer

2 nominations

• John Dexter
• Frank Dunlop
• Stephen Porter
• Alan Schneider
• Melvin Bernhardt
• Alan Ayckbourn
• Marshall W. Mason
• Trevor Nunn
• Gary Sinise
• Terry Kinney
• Gregory Mosher
• Ron Lagomarsino
• Norman René
• Adrian Noble
• Michael Greif
• JoAnne Akalaitis
• Jonathan Kent
• Mary Zimmerman
• Declan Donnellan
• Mark Brokaw
• Garry Hynes
• Michael Mayer
• Robert Falls
• Philip Seymour Hoffman
• Edward Hall
• Moisés Kaufman
• Kenny Leon
• Ciarán O’Reilly
• Anna D. Shapiro
• Sarah Benson
• David Cromer
• Ruben Santiago-Hudson
• Marianne Elliott
• Jeremy Herrin
• Anne Kauffman
• John Tiffany
• Rupert Goold
• Justin Martin
• Tyne Rafaeli
• Whitney White

See also

• Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director
• Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
• Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Play
• Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director

References

1. Evans, Greg (May 5, 2021). "Broadway To Reopen Sept. 14, Says Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Broadway League "Cautiously Optimistic"". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
2. "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Drama Desk Awards with 7 Wins Including Outstanding Play - Playbill.com". June 10, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
3. Culwell-Block, Logan (April 30, 2025). "Boop! Leads 2025 Drama Desk Award Nominations With 11 Nods Including Outstanding Musical; Read the Full List Here" . Retrieved May 5, 2025.