Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play
Awarded for	Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Presented by	Drama Desk
First award	2023
Currently held by	Laura Donnelly, Sarah Snook (2025)
Website	dramadesk.org

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City.

From 1955 to 1974, acting awards were given only for lead performances, without making distinctions between roles in plays and musicals, nor between actors and actresses. From 1975 to 2022, acting awards were presented in eight categories: separate categories by gender; further divided by lead or featured performer; producing four acting awards each for plays and musicals.

In 2023, the Drama Desk organization announced that, starting with that year's awards, the eight acting categories had been retired and replaced with four gender neutral categories with twice the winners and nominees: separate categories by lead or featured performer; producing two acting categories each for plays and musicals. ^[1] The former awards for Outstanding Actor in a Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play were merged to create this Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play category.

Nominees

2020s

Year	Actor	Title	Character
2023 [2]
	Sean Hayes	Good Night, Oscar	Oscar Levant
	Jessica Chastain	A Doll's House	Nora Helmer
	Hiran Abeysekera	Life of Pi	Pi
	Kyle Beltran	A Case for the Existence of God	Keith
	Will Brill	A Case for the Existence of God	Ryan
	Brittany Bradford	Wedding Band	Julia Augustine
	Sharon D. Clarke	Death of a Salesman	Linda Loman
	Denise Manning	Amani	Amani
	Audra McDonald	Ohio State Murders	Suzanne Alexander
	Wendell Pierce	Death of a Salesman	Willy Loman
	John Douglas Thompson	Endgame	Hamm
	Kara Young	Twelfth Night	Viola
2024 [3]
	Jessica Lange	Mother Play	Phyllis
	Sarah Paulson	Appropriate	Antoinette "Toni" Lafayette
	Nicole Cooper	Macbeth (an undoing)	Lady Macbeth
	William Jackson Harper	Primary Trust	Kenneth
	Rachel McAdams	Mary Jane	Mary Jane
	Tobias Menzies	The Hunt	Lucas
	Leslie Odom, Jr.	Purlie Victorious	Purlie Victorious Judson
	A.J. Shively	Philadelphia, Here I Come!	Gareth “Gar” O’Donnell
	Juliet Stevenson	The Doctor	Ruth Wolff
	Michael Stuhlbarg	Patriots	Boris Berezovsky
2025 [4]
	Laura Donnelly	The Hills of California	Veronica / Joan
	Sarah Snook	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Performer
	Betsy Aidem	The Ask	Greta
	Patsy Ferran	A Streetcar Named Desire	Blanche DuBois
	Danny J. Gomez	All of Me	Alfonso
	Doug Harris	Redeemed	Trevor Barlow
	Patrick Keleher	Fatherland	Son
	Louis McCartney	Stranger Things: The First Shadow	Henry Creel
	Lily Rabe	Ghosts	Mrs. Helen Alving
	Jay O. Sanders	Henry IV (Theatre for a New Audience)	Falstaff
	Paul Sparks	Grangeville	Jerry
Olivia Washington	Wine in the Wilderness	Tomorrow “Tommy” Marie

References

1. Culwell-Block, Logan (April 26, 2023). "Drama Desk Awards Go Gender Neutral". Playbill . Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
2. Gordon, David (April 27, 2023). "Shucked, Some Like It Hot Lead 2023 Drama Desk Award Nominations" . Retrieved May 8, 2023.
3. "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Drama Desk Awards with 7 Wins Including Outstanding Play - Playbill.com". 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
4. "Drama Desk Award Winners 2025: The Full List". Playbill. June 1, 2025. Retrieved September 5, 2025.