2025 Pulitzer Prize Predictions

[MarilynMonroeSmash]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 1:17am

The announcement is in 1 month. Anyone have any thoughts?

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 1:27am

Is PURPOSE eligible?   It was outstanding 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 1:33am

VernonGersch said: "Is PURPOSE eligible? It was outstanding"

I believe it would be, as it premiered in Chicago last spring, putting it within the eligibility window of this year's award.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 2:32am

Liberation

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 8:15am

This year’s prize would only cover works that premiere between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24 so I don’t think Liberation would be eligible, though it seems like a shoo-in for next year.

[JoeW4]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 8:26am

I posted a video on TikTok looking at a range of possible contenders, in case anyone is curious:

But yes as BroadwayGirl said, Liberation will be eligible next year.

Purpose's out of town run doesn't NECESSARILY mean it's eligible this year, as it's up to them whether they want to submit following their first run, or wait until a future (often NYC) run. However, in recent year' we've seen that Steppenwolf tends to submit for their runs, so I would guess that Purpose is eligible because it premiered at Steppenwolf specifically.

Updated On: 4/6/25 at 08:26 AM

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 6:34pm

2024 was a pretty sparse calendar year for new plays. 2025 already has way more interesting contenders for next year's prize. I do think John Proctor is the Villain is eligible this year due to the Huntington production. Purpose had quite a few revisions between Chicago and Broadway so I'm skeptical they submitted it for consideration this year, but you never know. What else would be a contender? The Ally? Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists? Sally & Tom? Grief Hotel? Little Bear Ridge Road?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 6:46pm

Little Bear Ridge Road (not a great name) was probably my highlight of the past year. But it's just so...small... that I'm not sure it made any of sort of impact. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 6:53pm

RippedMan said: "Little Bear Ridge Road (not a great name) was probably my highlight of the past year. But it's just so...small... that I'm not sure it made any of sort of impact."

Cost of Living and Water By The Spoonful were also relatively under the radar. Steppenwolf immediately gives it a level of visibility. (I haven't seen the play)

The committee does not need to see the production live. They can read the script and/or watch an archival video. I BELIEVE a work can even be considered without being submitted, right?

Unlikely that any musicals would be strongly considered this year, right? DEAD OUTLAW doesn't quite feel like Pulitzer material, and MAYBE HAPPY ENDING was very likely considered in 2020 given that it premiered at a major regional house and in a heavily truncated year.

Updated On: 4/6/25 at 06:53 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/6/25 at 7:13pm

I feel like the Pultizers are generally so idiosyncratic that, absent an obvious and undeniable frontrunner like a Hamilton or August: Osage County, they're extremely hard to predict. Little-known, divisive, and off-kilter shows have managed to be shortlisted quite a bit in the last decade.

Watch Oh, Mary! make the cut.

Updated On: 4/6/25 at 07:13 PM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/7/25 at 1:47am

I've been thinking The Ally is probably one that would be discussed since I saw it.  A couple of dark horse candidates that I feel would be long shots but could be considered would be Dark Noon and The Welkin, maybe even Teeth?

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/7/25 at 2:41am

Synecdoche2 said: "2024 was a pretty sparse calendar year for new plays. 2025 already has way more interesting contenders for next year's prize. I do think John Proctor is the Villain is eligible this year due to the Huntington production. Purpose had quite a few revisions between Chicago and Broadway so I'm skeptical they submitted it for consideration this year, but you never know. What else would be a contender? The Ally?Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists? Sally & Tom? Grief Hotel? Little Bear Ridge Road?"

John Proctor is the Villain premiered in 2022 at the Studio Theater in DC, so it's moment has passed for this. 

One would think it might have been a strong contender if it debuted closer to 2018 and the pandemic hadn't happened, but it has a certain feeling of being slightly of the past because of it. 

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 5/2/25 at 11:41pm

Winners on Monday. Any more guesses?

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/2/25 at 11:43pm

Liberation 

We Had A World

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 1:21am

Once again, the eligibility period for this year's prize was the 2024 calendar year, which would mean Liberation is not eligible, though it will take a hell of a play to better it for next year's prize. 

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 2:17am

Tammy Faye

[djoko84]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 2:47am

Purpose has to be the frontrunner. I'm pretty sure it's eligible this year. Someone above mentioned Maybe Happy Ending, which would be ineligible because the winner has to be by an American author, ideally dealing with American life.

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 9:52am

Would be beyond thrilled for PURPOSE to receive the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Drama,  It continues to stay with me and so thrilled for all of those well deserved Tony Noms.   In reading the thread, I understand We Saw The World would not be eligible but another play that was meaningful and well written and performed.  

 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 10:25am

''Someone above mentioned Maybe Happy Ending, which would be ineligible because the winner has to be by an American author, ideally dealing with American life.''

I think that's preferably dealing with American life because the Pulitzer has gone to plays like ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (set in Amsterdam) and ''Ruined'' (set in the Congo). 

As for the American author part, Will Aronson is an American composer of ''Maybe Happy Ending.'' Is the show ineligible for the Pulitzer because his co-lyricist and co-librettist, Hue Park, is South Korean?

And i must've missed it, but why is Joshua Harmon's wonderful ''We Had a World'' ineligible? Or is it?

 

Updated On: 5/3/25 at 10:25 AM

[JoeW4]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 10:29am

Both "Liberation" and "We Had a World" are ineligible because they premiered in 2025, whereas Monday's announcement will only consider shows that submitted for the calendar year of 2024. "Liberation" and "We Had a World" will both be eligible next year.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 10:51am

Oh! Thank you.  Didn't realize they were ineligible for this year.  Both were fantastic.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 10:54am

Ruined was one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 11:31am

Yeah, the “deals with American life” thing is a preference and not a fixed rule. English won last year, after all. But looking over the list of winners and finalists, I don’t believe anything written in whole or in part by a writer who is not an American citizen has ever made the cut, which would shut out MHE.

If a musical does sneak in this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Dead Outlaw. 

Updated On: 5/3/25 at 11:31 AM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 1:13pm

The “deals with American life” stipulation is a little more abstract: a play does not have to take place in America to be commenting on the state of the country and American culture.

 

English takes place in Iran, but as a play by an Iranian-American, it is essentially a play about the costs of assimilation (or choosing not to) into an American culture that holds worldwide dominance.