| Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play | |
|---|---|
| The 2023 recipient: Jack Thorne | |
| Awarded for | Best Play |
| Location | |
| Presented by | Evening Standard |
| Currently held by | Jack Thorne for The Motive and the Cue (2023) |
The Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play is an annual award presented by the Evening Standard since 1955, in recognition of achievement in British theatre.
| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 6th | ||
| The Caretaker | Harold Pinter | |
| 7th | ||
| Becket | Jean Anouilh (play)and Lucienne Hill (translation) | |
| 8th | ||
| The Caucasian Chalk Circle | Bertolt Brecht and Eric Bentley | |
| 9th | ||
| Poor Bitos | Jean Anouilh(play)and Lucienne Hill (translation) | |
| 10th | ||
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Edward Albee | |
| 11th | ||
| The Killing of Sister George | Frank Marcus | |
| A Patriot for Me | John Osborne | |
| 12th | ||
| Loot | Joe Orton | |
| 13th | ||
| A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Peter Nichols | |
| 14th | ||
| The Hotel in Amsterdam | John Osborne | |
| 15th | ||
| The National Health | Peter Nichols |
| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 16th | ||
| Home | David Storey | |
| 17th | ||
| Butley | Simon Gray | |
| 18th | ||
| Jumpers | Tom Stoppard | |
| 19th | ||
| Saturday, Sunday, Monday | Eduardo De Filippo (play), Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall (translation) | |
| 20th | ||
| The Norman Conquests | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| 21st | ||
| Otherwise Engaged | Simon Gray | |
| 22nd | ||
| Weapons of Happiness | Howard Brenton | |
| 23rd | ||
| Just Between Ourselves | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| 24th | ||
| Night and Day | Tom Stoppard | |
| 25th | ||
| Amadeus | Peter Shaffer |
| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 26th | ||
| The Dresser | Ronald Harwood | |
| 27th | ||
| Passion Play | Peter Nichols | |
| 28th | ||
| The Real Thing | Tom Stoppard | |
| 29th | ||
| "Master Harold"...and the Boys | Athol Fugard | |
| 30th | ||
| Benefactors | Michael Frayn | |
| 31st | ||
| Pravda | David Hare and Howard Brenton | |
| 32nd | ||
| Les Liaisons Dangereuses | Christopher Hampton | |
| 33rd | ||
| A Small Family Business | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| 34th | ||
| Aristocrats | Brian Friel | |
| 35th | ||
| Ghetto | Joshua Sobol (play) and David Lan (translation) |
| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 36th | ||
| Shadowlands | William Nicholson | |
| 37th | ||
| Dancing at Lughnasa | Brian Friel | |
| 38th | ||
| Angels in America | Tony Kushner | |
| 39th | ||
| Arcadia | Tom Stoppard | |
| 40th | ||
| Three Tall Women | Edward Albee | |
| 41st | ||
| Pentecost | David Edgar | |
| 42nd | ||
| Stanley | Pam Gems | |
| 43rd | ||
| The Invention of Love | Tom Stoppard | |
| 44th | ||
| Copenhagen | Michael Frayn | |
| 45th | ||
| N/A | ||
| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 46th | ||
| Blue/Orange | Joe Penhall | |
| 47th | ||
| The Far Side of the Moon | Robert Lepage | |
| Mouth To Mouth | Kevin Elyot | |
| The Shape Of Things | Neil LaBute | |
| 48th | ||
| A Number | Caryl Churchill | |
| The Lieutenant Of Inishmore | Martin McDonagh | |
| The York Realist | Peter Gill | |
| 49th | ||
| Democracy | Michael Frayn | |
| After Mrs Rochester | Polly Teale | |
| Fallout | Roy Williams | |
| 50th | ||
| The History Boys | Alan Bennett | |
| The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? | Edward Albee | |
| The Pillowman | Martin McDonagh | |
| 51st | ||
| The Home Place | Brian Friel | |
| 2,000 Years | Mike Leigh | |
| Bloody Sunday | Richard Norton-Taylor | |
| Harvest | Richard Bean | |
| 52nd | ||
| Rock 'n' Roll | Tom Stoppard | |
| Frost/Nixon | Peter Morgan | |
| The Seafarer | Conor McPherson | |
| 53rd | ||
| A Disappearing Number | Complicité and Simon McBurney | |
| Rafta, Rafta... | Ayub Khan-Din | |
| The Reporter | Nicholas Wright | |
| 54th | ||
| The Pitmen Painters | Lee Hall | |
| Black Watch | Gregory Burke | |
| Now or Later | Christopher Shinn | |
| 55th | ||
| Jerusalem | Jez Butterworth | |
| August: Osage County | Tracy Letts | |
| ENRON | Lucy Prebble | |
| Punk Rock | Simon Stephens |
| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 66th | ||
| Best of Enemies | James Graham | |
| Indecent | Paula Vogel | |
| Red Pitch | Tyrell Williams | |
| The Father and the Assassin | Anupama Chandrasekhar | |
| The Mirror and the Light | Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles | |
| 67th | ||
| The Motive and the Cue | Jack Thorne | |
| Dear England | James Graham | |
| A Mirror | Sam Holcroft | |
| Retrograde | Ryan Calais Cameron |
6 awards
3 awards
2 awards
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