Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play

Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play
Awarded for	Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play
Location	United States
Presented by	The Off-Broadway League [1] [2]
Currently held by	Kara Young, Table 17(2025)
Website	lortelaward.com

The Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play is an award presented annually at the Lucille Lortel Awards to honor a performer for excellence in a leading role in an Off-Broadway play production since 2022 ^[3] , when the acting categories were made gender-neutral. ^[4]

2020s

Year	Actress	Play	Character	Ref.
2022	Shannon Tyo	The Chinese Lady	Afong Moy	[5]
	Stephanie Berry	On Sugarland	Evelyn
	W. Tré Davis	Tambo & Bones	Tambo
	Elizabeth Marvel	Long Day’s Journey Into Night	Mary Tyrone
	Mary Wiseman	At the Wedding	Carlo
2022	K. Todd Freeman	Downstate	Dee	[6]
	Tonya Pinkins	A Raisin in the Sun	Lena Younger
	John Douglas Thompson	Endgame	Hamm
	Kyle Beltran	A Case for the Existence of God	Keith
	Ryan J. Haddad	Dark Disabled Stories	Performer
	Bill Irwin	Endgame	Clov
	Marylouise Burke	Epiphany	Morkan
2024	Gabby Beans	Jonah	Ana	[7]
	A. J. Shively	Philadelphia, Here I Come!	Gar-Private
	Josh Radnor	The Ally	Asaf
	Nicole Ari Parker	The Refuge Plays	Early
	William Jackson Harper	Primary Trust	Kenneth
	Christopher Abbott	Danny and the Deep Blue Sea	Danny
	Paco Tolson	The Knight of the Burning Pestle	Performer
2025	Kara Young	Table 17	Jada	[8]
	Marisa Tomei	Babe	Abigail
	Paul Sparks	Grangeville	Jerry
	Lily Rabe	Ghosts	Helena Alving
	Susannah Flood	Liberation	Lizzie
	Madison Ferris	All of Me	Lucy
	Adam Driver	Hold On to Me Darling	Strings McCrane

References

1. The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers
2. The Off-Broadway League
3. Acting Categories Split into Musicals and Plays
4. "Lucille Lortel Awards Will Switch to Gender-Neutral Categories for Performers". Playbill.
5. "2022 Nominees: Lucille Lortel Awards". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
6. "2022 Nominees: Lucille Lortel Awards". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
7. "2024 Nominees: Lucille Lortel Awards". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
8. "2025 Drama League Awards". Drama League. Retrieved 12 September 2025.