Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play

The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: Dramatic and Musical. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play. For pre-1960 direction awards please reference Tony Award for Best Director.

Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
Awarded for	Best Direction of a Play
Location	New York City
Presented by	American Theatre Wing The Broadway League
Currently held by	Sam Mendes for The Ferryman (2019)
Website	TonyAwards.com

Winners and nominees

  indicates the winner

1960s

Year	Director	Production
1960 14th Tony Awards
	Arthur Penn	The Miracle Worker
	Joseph Anthony	The Best Man
	Tyrone Guthrie	The Tenth Man
	Elia Kazan	Sweet Bird of Youth
	Lloyd Richards	A Raisin in the Sun
1961 15th Tony Awards
	John Gielgud	Big Fish, Little Fish
	Joseph Anthony	Rhinoceros
	Joan Littlewood	The Hostage
	Arthur Penn	All the Way Home
1962 16th Tony Awards
	Noel Willman	A Man for All Seasons
	Tyrone Guthrie	Gideon
	Donald McWhinnie	The Caretaker
	José Quintero	Great Day in the Morning
1963 17th Tony Awards
	Alan Schneider	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
	George Abbott	Never Too Late
	John Gielgud	The School for Scandal
	Peter Glenville	Tchin-Tchin
1964 18th Tony Awards
	Mike Nichols	Barefoot in the Park
	June Havoc	Marathon '33
	Alan Schneider	The Ballad of the Sad Café
	Herman Shumlin	The Deputy
1965 19th Tony Awards
	Mike Nichols	Luv
		The Odd Couple
	William Ball	Tartuffe
	Ulu Grosbard	The Subject Was Roses
	Alan Schneider	Tiny Alice
1966 20th Tony Awards
	Peter Brook	Marat/Sade
	Hilton Edwards	Philadelphia, Here I Come!
	Ellis Rabb	You Can't Take It with You
	Noel Willman	The Lion in Winter
1967 21st Tony Awards
	Peter Hall	The Homecoming
	John Dexter	Black Comedy
	Donald Driver	Marat/Sade
	Alan Schneider	A Delicate Balance
1968 22nd Tony Awards
	Mike Nichols	Plaza Suite
	Michael Blakemore	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
	Derek Goldby	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
	Alan Schneider	You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running
1969 23rd Tony Awards
	Peter Dews	Hadrian VII
	Joseph Hardy	Play It Again, Sam
	Harold Pinter	The Man in the Glass Booth
	Michael A. Schultz	Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?

1970s

Year	Director	Production
1970 24th Tony Awards
	Joseph Hardy	Child's Play
	Milton Katselas	Butterflies Are Free
	Tómas Mac Anna	Borstal Boy
	Robert Moore	Last of the Red Hot Lovers
1971 25th Tony Awards
	Peter Brook	A Midsummer Night's Dream
	Lindsay Anderson	Home
	Stephen Porter	The School for Wives
	Clifford Williams	Sleuth
1972 26th Tony Awards
	Mike Nichols	The Prisoner of Second Avenue
	Jeff Bleckner	Sticks and Bones
	Gordon Davidson	The Trial of the Catsville Nine
	Peter Hall	Old Times
1973 27th Tony Awards
	A. J. Antoon	That Championship Season
	A. J. Antoon	Much Ado About Nothing
	Alan Arkin	The Sunshine Boys
	Michael Rudman	The Changing Room
1974 28th Tony Awards
	José Quintero	A Moon for the Misbegotten
	Burgess Meredith	Ulysses in Nighttown
	Mike Nichols	Uncle Vanya
	Stephen Porter	Chemin de Fer
	Edwin Sherin	Find Your Way Home
1975 29th Tony Awards
	John Dexter	Equus
	Arvin Brown	The National Health
	Frank Dunlop	Scapino
	Ronald Eyre	London Assurance
	Athol Fugard	Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island
	Gene Saks	Same Time, Next Year
1976 30th Tony Awards
	Ellis Rabb	The Royal Family
	Arvin Brown	Ah, Wilderness!
	Marshall W. Mason	Knock Knock
	Peter Wood	Travesties
1977 31st Tony Awards
	Gordon Davidson	The Shadow Box
	Ulu Grosbard	American Buffalo
	Mike Nichols	Comedians
		Streamers
1978 32nd Tony Awards
	Melvin Bernhardt	Da
	Robert Moore	Deathtrap
	Mike Nichols	The Gin Game
	Dennis Rosa	Dracula
1979 33rd Tony Awards
	Jack Hofsiss	The Elephant Man
	Alan Ayckbourn and Peter Hall	Bedroom Farce
	Paul Giovanni	The Crucifer of Blood
	Michael Lindsay-Hogg	Whose Life Is It Anyway?

1980s

Year	Director	Production
1980 34th Tony Awards
	Vivian Matalon	Morning's at Seven
	Gordon Davidson	Children of a Lesser God
	Peter Hall	Betrayal
	Marshall W. Mason	Talley's Folly
1981 35th Tony Awards
	Peter Hall	Amadeus
	Peter Coe	A Life
	Marshall W. Mason	Fifth of July
	Austin Pendleton	The Little Foxes
1982 36th Tony Awards
	John Caird and Trevor Nunn	The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
	Melvin Bernhardt	Crimes of the Heart
	Geraldine Fitzgerald	Mass Appeal
	Athol Fugard	"Master Harold"...and the Boys
1983 37th Tony Awards
	Gene Saks	Brighton Beach Memoirs
	Marshall W. Mason	Angels Fall
	Tom Moore	'Night, Mother
	Trevor Nunn	All's Well That Ends Well
1984 38th Tony Awards
	Mike Nichols	The Real Thing
	Michael Blakemore	Noises Off
	David Leveaux	A Moon for the Misbegotten
	Gregory Mosher	Glengarry Glen Ross
1985 39th Tony Awards
	Gene Saks	Biloxi Blues
	Keith Hack	Strange Interlude
	Terry Hands	Much Ado About Nothing
	Marshall W. Mason	As Is
1986 40th Tony Awards
	Jerry Zaks	The House of Blue Leaves
	Jonathan Miller	Long Day's Journey Into Night
	José Quintero	The Iceman Cometh
	John Tillinger	Loot
1987 41st Tony Awards
	Lloyd Richards	Fences
	Howard Davies	Les Liaisons Dangereuses
	Mbongeni Ngema	Asinamali!
	Carole Rothman	Coastal Disturbances
1988 42nd Tony Awards
	John Dexter	M. Butterfly
	Gregory Mosher	Speed-the-Plow
	Lloyd Richards	Joe Turner's Come and Gone
	Clifford Williams	Breaking the Code
1989 43rd Tony Awards
	Jerry Zaks	Lend Me a Tenor
	Bill Irwin	Largely New York
	Gregory Mosher	Our Town
	Daniel J. Sullivan	The Heidi Chronicles

1990s

Year	Director	Production
1990 44th Tony Awards
	Frank Galati	The Grapes of Wrath
	Michael Blakemore	Lettice and Lovage
	Peter Hall	The Merchant of Venice
	Lloyd Richards	The Piano Lesson
1991 45th Tony Awards
	Jerry Zaks	Six Degrees of Separation
	Richard Jones	La Bête
	Mark Lamos	Our Country's Good
	Gene Saks	Lost in Yonkers
1992 46th Tony Awards
	Patrick Mason	Dancing at Lughnasa
	Peter Hall	Four Baboons Adoring the Sun
	Jack O'Brien	Two Shakespearean Actors
	Daniel J. Sullivan	Conversations with My Father
1993 47th Tony Awards
	George C. Wolfe	Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
	David Leveaux	Anna Christie
	Eric Simonson	The Song of Jacob Zulu
	Daniel J. Sullivan	The Sisters Rosensweig
1994 48th Tony Awards
	Stephen Daldry	An Inspector Calls
	Gerald Gutierrez	Abe Lincoln in Illinois
	Michael Langham	Timon of Athens
	George C. Wolfe	Angels in America: Perestroika
1995 49th Tony Awards
	Gerald Gutierrez	The Heiress
	Emily Mann	Having Our Say
	Joe Mantello	Love! Valour! Compassion!
	Sean Mathias	Indiscretions
1996 50th Tony Awards
	Gerald Gutierrez	A Delicate Balance
	Peter Hall	An Ideal Husband
	Lloyd Richards	Seven Guitars
	Gary Sinise	Buried Child
1997 51st Tony Awards
	Anthony Page	A Doll's House
	John Caird	Stanley
	Richard Eyre	Skylight
	Charles Nelson Reilly	The Gin Game
1998 52nd Tony Awards
	Garry Hynes	The Beauty Queen of Leenane
	Michael Mayer	A View from the Bridge
	Simon McBurney	The Chairs
	Matthew Warchus	'Art'
1999 53rd Tony Awards
	Robert Falls	Death of a Salesman
	Howard Davies	The Iceman Cometh
	Garry Hynes	The Lonesome West
	Trevor Nunn	Not About Nightingales

2000s

Year	Director	Production
2000 54th Tony Awards
	Michael Blakemore	Copenhagen
	James Lapine	Dirty Blonde
	David Leveaux	The Real Thing
	Matthew Warchus	True West
2001 55th Tony Awards
	Daniel J. Sullivan	Proof
	Marion McClinton	King Hedley II
	Ian McElhinney	Stones in His Pockets
	Jack O'Brien	The Invention of Love
2002 56th Tony Awards
	Mary Zimmerman	Metamorphoses
	Howard Davies	Private Lives
	Richard Eyre	The Crucible
	Daniel J. Sullivan	Morning's at Seven
2003 57th Tony Awards
	Joe Mantello	Take Me Out
	Laurence Boswell	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
	Robert Falls	Long Day's Journey Into Night
	Deborah Warner	Medea
2004 58th Tony Awards
	Jack O'Brien	Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2
	Doug Hughes	Frozen
	Moises Kaufman	I Am My Own Wife
	David Leveaux	Jumpers
2005 59th Tony Awards
	Doug Hughes	Doubt: A Parable
	John Crowley	The Pillowman
	Scott Ellis	Twelve Angry Men
	Joe Mantello	Glengarry Glen Ross
2006 60th Tony Awards
	Nicholas Hytner	The History Boys
	Wilson Milam	The Lieutenant of Inishmore
	Bartlett Sher	Awake and Sing!
	Daniel J. Sullivan	Rabbit Hole
2007 61st Tony Awards
	Jack O'Brien	The Coast of Utopia
	Michael Grandage	Frost/Nixon
	David Grindley	Journey's End
	Melly Still	Coram Boy
2008 62nd Tony Awards
	Anna D. Shapiro	August: Osage County
	Maria Aitken	The 39 Steps
	Conor McPherson	The Seafarer
	Matthew Warchus	Boeing Boeing
2009 63rd Tony Awards
	Matthew Warchus	God of Carnage
	Phyllida Lloyd	Mary Stuart
	Bartlett Sher	Joe Turner's Come and Gone
	Matthew Warchus	The Norman Conquests

2010s

Year	Director	Production
2010 64th Tony Awards
	Michael Grandage	Red
	Sheryl Kaller	Next Fall
	Kenny Leon	Fences
	Gregory Mosher	A View from the Bridge
2011 65th Tony Awards
	Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris	War Horse
	Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe	The Normal Heart
	Anna D. Shapiro	The Motherfucker with the Hat
	Daniel J. Sullivan	The Merchant of Venice
2012 66th Tony Awards
	Mike Nichols	Death of a Salesman
	Nicholas Hytner	One Man, Two Guvnors
	Pam MacKinnon	Clybourne Park
	Roger Rees and Alex Timbers	Peter and the Starcatcher
2013 67th Tony Awards
	Pam MacKinnon	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
	Nicholas Martin	Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
	Bartlett Sher	Golden Boy
	George C. Wolfe	Lucky Guy
2014 68th Tony Awards
	Kenny Leon	A Raisin in the Sun
	Tim Carroll	Twelfth Night
	Michael Grandage	The Cripple of Inishmaan
	John Tiffany	The Glass Menagerie
2015 69th Tony Awards
	Marianne Elliott	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
	Stephen Daldry	Skylight
	Scott Ellis	You Can't Take It with You
	Jeremy Herrin	Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
	Moritz von Stuelpnagel	Hand to God
2016 70th Tony Awards
	Ivo van Hove	A View from the Bridge
	Rupert Goold	King Charles III
	Jonathan Kent	Long Day's Journey into Night
	Joe Mantello	The Humans
	Liesl Tommy	Eclipsed
2017 71st Tony Awards
	Rebecca Taichman	Indecent
	Sam Gold	A Doll's House, Part 2
	Ruben Santiago-Hudson	Jitney
	Bartlett Sher	Oslo
	Daniel J. Sullivan	The Little Foxes
2018 72nd Tony Awards
	John Tiffany	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
	Marianne Elliott	Angels in America
	Joe Mantello	Three Tall Women
	Patrick Marber	Travesties
	George C. Wolfe	The Iceman Cometh
2019 73rd Tony Awards
	Sam Mendes	The Ferryman
	Rupert Goold	Ink
	Ivo van Hove	Network
	Bartlett Sher	To Kill a Mockingbird
	George C. Wolfe	Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Award records

Multiple wins

6 Wins

• Mike Nichols

3 Wins

• Jerry Zaks

2 Wins

• Peter Brook
• John Dexter
• Marianne Elliott
• Gerald Gutierrez
• Peter Hall
• Jack O'Brien
• Gene Saks

Multiple nominations

10 Nominations

• Mike Nichols

8 Nominations

• Peter Hall
• Daniel J. Sullivan

6 Nominations

• George C. Wolfe

5 Nominations

• Joe Mantello
• Marshall W. Mason
• Lloyd Richards
• Alan Schneider
• Bartlett Sher
• Matthew Warchus

4 Nominations

• Michael Blakemore
• David Leveaux
• Gregory Mosher
• Jack O'Brien
• Gene Saks

3 Nominations

• Gordon Davidson
• Howard Davies
• John Dexter
• Marianne Elliott
• Michael Grandage
• Gerald Gutierrez
• Trevor Nunn
• José Quintero
• Jerry Zaks

2 Nominations

• Joseph Anthony
• A. J. Antoon
• Melvin Bernhardt
• Peter Brook
• Arvin Brown
• John Caird
• Stephen Daldry
• Richard Eyre
• Robert Falls
• Athol Fugard
• John Gielgud
• Rupert Goold
• Ulu Grosbard
• Tyrone Guthrie
• Joseph Hardy
• Ivo van Hove
• Doug Hughes
• Garry Hynes
• Nicholas Hytner
• Kenny Leon
• Pam MacKinnon
• Robert Moore
• Arthur Penn
• Stephen Porter
• Ellis Rabb
• Anna D. Shapiro
• John Tiffany
• Clifford Williams
• Noel Willman

Female winners

Only 6 women have won this award:

• Garry Hynes – The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1998)
• Mary Zimmerman – Metamorphoses (2002)
• Anna D. Shapiro – August: Osage County (2008)
• Pam MacKinnon – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? revival (2013)
• Marianne Elliott – War Horse (2011) (shared with Tom Morris) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2015), making her the only woman to win this award more than once
• Rebecca Taichman – Indecent (2017)

See also

• Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play
• Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director

External links

• Tony Award for Direction of a Play ibdb
• Tony Awards official site