Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play

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.

Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play
The 2023 recipient: Jack Thorne
Awarded for	Best Play
Location	United Kingdom
Presented by	Evening Standard
Currently held by	Jack Thorne for The Motive and the Cue (2023)

Winners and nominees

1950s

Ceremony	Play	Writer
1st
	Tiger at the Gates	Christopher Fry
2nd
	Romanoff and Juliet	Peter Ustinov
3rd
	Summer of the Seventeenth Doll	Ray Lawler
4th
	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Tennessee Williams
5th
	The Long and the Short and the Tall	Willis Hall

1960s

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

1970s

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

1980s

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)

1990s

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

2000s

Ceremony	Play	Writer
46th
	Blue/Orange	Joe Penhall
47th [1]
	The Far Side of the Moon	Robert Lepage
	Mouth To Mouth	Kevin Elyot
	The Shape Of Things	Neil LaBute
48th [2]
	A Number	Caryl Churchill
	The Lieutenant Of Inishmore	Martin McDonagh
	The York Realist	Peter Gill
49th [3]
	Democracy	Michael Frayn
	After Mrs Rochester	Polly Teale
	Fallout	Roy Williams
50th [4][5]
	The History Boys	Alan Bennett
	The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?	Edward Albee
	The Pillowman	Martin McDonagh
51st [6][7]
	The Home Place	Brian Friel
	2,000 Years	Mike Leigh
	Bloody Sunday	Richard Norton-Taylor
	Harvest	Richard Bean
52nd [8][9]
	Rock 'n' Roll	Tom Stoppard
	Frost/Nixon	Peter Morgan
	The Seafarer	Conor McPherson
53rd [10][11]
	A Disappearing Number	Complicité and Simon McBurney
	Rafta, Rafta...	Ayub Khan-Din
	The Reporter	Nicholas Wright
54th [12][13]
	The Pitmen Painters	Lee Hall
	Black Watch	Gregory Burke
	Now or Later	Christopher Shinn
55th [14][15]
	Jerusalem	Jez Butterworth
	August: Osage County	Tracy Letts
	ENRON	Lucy Prebble
	Punk Rock	Simon Stephens

2010s

Ceremony	Play	Writer
56th [16][17]
	Clybourne Park	Bruce Norris
	Cock	Mike Bartlett
	Sucker Punch	Roy Williams
57th [18][19]
	The Heretic	Richard Bean
	One Man, Two Guvnors
	Becky Shaw	Gina Gionfriddo
	Tribes	Nina Raine
58th [20][21]
	Constellations	Nick Payne
	This House	James Graham
	Love and Information	Caryl Churchill
59th [22]
	Chimerica	Lucy Kirkwood
	The Dark Earth and the Light Sky	Nick Dear
	The Effect	Lucy Prebble
60th [23][24]
	The James Plays	Rona Munro
	Intimate Apparel	Lynn Nottage
	King Charles III	Mike Bartlett
	The Nether	Jennifer Haley
61st [25][26]
	The Motherfucker with the Hat	Stephen Adly Guirgis
	Hangmen	Martin McDonagh
	The Father	Florian Zeller (play) and Christopher Hampton (translation)
62nd [27][28]
	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany
	Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 and 3)	Suzan-Lori Parks
	The Flick	Annie Baker
63rd [29][30]
	The Ferryman	Jez Butterworth
	The Children	Lucy Kirkwood
	Ink	James Graham
	Oslo	J. T. Rogers
64th [31][32]
	The Inheritance	Matthew Lopez
	Home, I’m Darling	Laura Wade
	John	Annie Baker
	The Lehman Trilogy	Stefano Massini (play) and Ben Power (translation)
	The Writer	Ella Hickson
65th [33][34]
	Sweat	Lynn Nottage
	Downstate	Bruce Norris
	ear for eye	debbie tucker green
	Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp.	Caryl Churchill

2020s

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

Multiple awards

6 awards

• Tom Stoppard

3 awards

• Alan Ayckbourn
• Michael Frayn
• Peter Nichols

2 awards

• Edward Albee
• Howard Brenton
• Jez Butterworth
• Simon Gray
• Willis Hall
• Lucienne Hill
• John Osborne
• Jack Thorne

See also

• Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
• Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play
• Tony Award for Best Play