Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play

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

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play
Awarded for	Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Presented by	Drama Desk
First award	2009
Currently held by	Jon Clark for Stranger Things: The First Shadow (2025)
Website	dramadesk.org (defunct)

The award was established in 1975, with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design being presented each year to any play or musical production. For 2009, the singular award was replaced by separate play and musical categories, but then merged again from 2010 to 2015; the separate play and musical categories have again co-existed since 2016.

Both Christopher Akerlind and Amith Chandrashaker hold the record for most wins in the category, with two each. For nominations, Isabella Byrd has received the most, with four, followed closely by Chandrashaker and Jiyoun Chang with three nominations each.

Winners and nominees

Key

  and bold indicates the winner.

2000s

Year	Designer	Production	Ref.
2009
	David Hersey	Equus	[1][2] [3]
	Marcus Doshi	Hamlet
	Ben Kato	Washing Machine
	R. Lee Kennedy	Bury the Dead
	Paul Pyant	The Winter's Tale
	Hugh Vanstone	Mary Stuart

2010s

Year	Designer	Production	Ref.
2010-2015	N/A
2016
	Justin Townsend	The Humans	[4][5]
	Neil Austin	Hughie
	Mark Barton	John
	Bradley King	Empanada Loca
	Tyler Micoleau	Antlia Pneumatica
2017
	Christopher Akerlind	Indecent	[6][7]
	James Farncombe	The Tempest
	Rick Fisher	The Judas Kiss
	Mimi Jordan Sherin	The Hairy Ape
	Stephen Strawbridge	"Master Harold"...and the Boys
	Justin Townsend	The Little Foxes
2018
	Neil Austin	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	[8][9]
	Natasha Chivers	1984
	Alan C. Edwards	Kill Move Paradise
	Paul Gallo	Three Tall Women
	Paul Russell	Farinelli and the King
2019
	Amith Chandrashaker	Boesman and Lena	[10][11]
	Amith Chandrashaker	Fairview
	Jiyoun Chang	Slave Play
	Jon Clark	The Jungle
	Simon Cleveland	Spaceman
	Yi Zhao	The House That Will Not Stand

2020s

Year	Designer	Production	Ref.
2020
	Heather Gilbert	The Sound Inside	[12][13]
	Isabella Byrd	Heroes of the Fourth Turning
	Oona Curley	Dr. Ride's American Beach House
	Mimi Jordan Sherin	Judgment Day
	Yi Zhao	Greater Clements
2021	No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City		[14]
2022
	Christopher Akerlind	Clyde's	[15][16] [17]
	Amith Chandrashaker	Prayer for the French Republic
	Reza Behjat	English
	Isabella Byrd	Sanctuary City
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew	Cullud Wattah
2023	Natasha Chivers & Willie Williams	Prima Facie	[18][19]
	Isabella Byrd	Epiphany
	Jiyoun Chang	The Far Country
	Allen Lee Hughes	Ohio State Murders
	Cha See	On That Day in Amsterdam
	Japhy Weideman	August Wilson's The Piano Lesson
2024	Jane Cox	Appropriate	[20][21]
	Stacey Derosier	Uncle Vanya
	Jiyoun Chang	The Far Country
	Natasha Katz	Grey House
	Lizzie Powell	Macbeth (an undoing)
	Eric Southern	Swing State
2025	Jon Clark	Stranger Things: The First Shadow	[22][23]
	Isabella Byrd	Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.
	Natasha Katz	John Proctor Is the Villain
	Tyler Micoleau	The Antiquities
	Paul Whitaker	SUMO

Multiple wins

2 wins

• Christopher Akerlind
• Amith Chandrashaker

Multiple nominations

4 nominations

• Isabella Byrd

3 nominations

• Amith Chandrashaker
• Jiyoun Chang

2 nominations

• Justin Townsend
• Neil Austin
• Tyler Micoleau
• Christopher Akerlind
• Mimi Jordan Sherin
• Natasha Chivers
• Natasha Katz

See also

• Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design
• Tony Award for Best Lighting Design
• Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
• Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lighting Design