Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
| Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding Actress in a Play |
| Location | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Drama Desk |
| First awarded | 1975 |
| Last awarded | 2022 |
| Website | dramadesk.org (defunct) |
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play was 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. The award was one of eight new acting awards first presented in 1975, when Drama Desk retired an earlier award that had made no distinction between work in plays and musicals, nor between actors and actresses, nor between lead performers and featured performers.
After the 2022 ceremony, all eight acting categories introduced in 1975 were retired. The award for Outstanding Actress in a Play, along with Outstanding Actor in a Play, were replaced in 2023 with the gender neutral category of Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play.
Winners and nominees[edit]
1970s[edit]
1980s[edit]
1990s[edit]
2000s[edit]
2010s[edit]
2020s[edit]
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | |||
| Liza Colón-Zayas | Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven | Sarge | |
| Rose Byrne | Medea | Medea | |
| Emily Davis | Is This a Room | Reality Winner | |
| April Matthis | Toni Stone | Toni Stone | |
| Ruth Negga | Hamlet | Hamlet | |
| 2021 | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City[1] | ||
| 2022 | |||
| Phylicia Rashad | Skeleton Crew | Faye | |
| Tala Ashe | English | Elham | |
| Ruth Negga | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | |
| Andrea Patterson | Cullud Wattah | Ainee | |
| Shannon Tyo | The Chinese Lady | Afong Moy | |
| Michelle Wilson | Confederates | Sandra | |
Multiple wins[edit]
- 3 wins
- 2 wins
See also[edit]
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
References[edit]
- ^ Evans, Greg (2021-05-05). "Broadway To Reopen Sept. 14, Says Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Broadway League "Cautiously Optimistic"". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-12-03.