#1
Posted: 4/22/26 at 1:59pm
Announcement is on May 4! What's everyone thinking?
#3
Posted: 4/22/26 at 2:06pm
LIBERATION.
"Gitchie gitchie Betsy Aidem / Squibby Squibby Squibby June."
#5
Posted: 4/22/26 at 2:09pm
Realistically, Liberation is getting in there as either the winner of the finalist. I loved Meet the Cartozians, but I think it would be out of left field if it won.
#6
Posted: 4/22/26 at 3:55pm
100% agree, I feel like the Pulitzer is Liberation's to lose --- and a win hopefully gives it a momentum jump heading into award season; I could easily see this getting a number of Tony nominations as in recent season, strong works from earlier in the season are well remembered by the nomination committee.
I'm more curious who'll make it to the short-list as Finalists. I sadly didn't see Cartozians but many who I know thought it was outstanding.
Anyone aware of notable regional stand-outs?
#8
Posted: 4/22/26 at 4:15pm
The Pulitzer committee loves a curveball, but I think it's a given that Liberation will be either the winner or a finalist. Other plays I could imagine as contenders:
The Antiquities
Caroline
Cold War Choir Practice
Grief Camp
Meet the Cartozians
Practice
Prince Faggot
We Had a World
Well, I'll Let You Go
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#9
Posted: 4/22/26 at 4:19pm
God, I hated Grief Camp, especially as someone still working through their grief. I pray it is not a finalist.
#10
Posted: 4/22/26 at 4:38pm
AC126748 said: "
Well, I'll Let You Go"
I'm thinking on maybe seeing this one on my monday night instead of Great Gatsby.
Have you seen? Is it worth it?
#11
Posted: 4/22/26 at 4:41pm
Would Cold War not be ineligible? Forgive me if I'm wrong but wasn't this a remount?
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
#12
Posted: 4/22/26 at 4:53pm
iluvtheatertrash said: "Would Cold War not be ineligible? Forgive me if I'm wrong but wasn't this a remount?"
The play premiered in 2025 at Clubbed Thumb, which would theoretically make it eligible for the upcoming prize, which will award a 2025 play, if it was submitted after its Summerworks run.
Reminder that a play text is only eligible if it was manually submitted to the Pulitzer committee, which is why some plays are eligible after their world premiere and some are only eligible after a New York production. Once the author has decided it is finished or near-finished, the producing entity will submit it on their behalf (typically). But there's no transparency to this process.
Updated On: 4/22/26 at 04:53 PM
#13
Posted: 4/22/26 at 5:18pm
Synecdoche2 said: "iluvtheatertrash said: "Would Cold War not be ineligible? Forgive me if I'm wrong but wasn't this a remount?"
The play premiered in 2025 at Clubbed Thumb, which would theoretically make it eligible for the upcoming prize, which will award a 2025 play, if it was submitted after its Summerworks run.
Reminder that a play text is only eligible if it was manually submitted to the Pulitzer committee, which is why some plays are eligible after their world premiereand some are only eligible after a New York production. Once the author has decided it is finished or near-finished, the producing entity will submit it on their behalf (typically). But there's no transparency to this process."
Thanks so much. I don't know why, but I always find the rules for this hard to remember. Then again, I found most things hard to remember these days 🤦
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
#14
Posted: 4/22/26 at 8:46pm
I'm heartened. I was afraid Liberation lost last year (confused as to cut-off, clearly). I'd be thrilled. I'd love to see it produced all over the country.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#15
Posted: 4/23/26 at 9:56am
The Pulitzer for Drama covers openings from January 1-December 31 for the prior year. So titles that played in 2025 are eligible for the 2026 award. The Off-Broadway run for Liberation was January 31-April 6, 2025 and Broadway was October 8, 2025-February 1, 2026.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
#16
Posted: 4/23/26 at 11:43am
My guess is that Cold War Choir Practice will be eligible next year (assuming they submit it with the MCC. Liberation didn't quite hit me as hard but I do agree it seems like the shoo-in. I think Prince F stands a good chance, and I'd love to see Meet the Cartozians, We Had a World, Caroline, and Queens get recognition too.
#17
Posted: 4/23/26 at 12:28pm
I can see Initiative by Else Went as a finalist.
Formerly FosseTharp. Before that XxDrewBoy85xX (lol)… member since 2005 but 3rd time I’m unable to access account and forced to start fresh.
#18
Posted: 4/23/26 at 12:31pm
LooseTapScrews said: "I can see Initiative by Else Went as a finalist."
I would looooooove to see Initiative get praise. It really was a big, beautiful play.
And to the person above asking if Well, I'll Let You Go is worth seeing: yes! It's really beautiful, and Quincy Tyler Bernstine is giving an astonishing performance.
#19
Posted: 4/23/26 at 12:56pm
I think it's clearly between Beaches and Queen of Versaille at this point.
Okay, in seriousness, it's probably Liberation. However, given the Pulitzers have seemed to stray more away from the more mainstream shows in the last decade or so, a part of me does feel like Prince F****** may end up taking it.
#20
Posted: 4/23/26 at 1:08pm
Prince F****t isn’t eligible as the author is Canadian, not American. Liberation was easily my favorite play last year. I agree We Had A World belongs as a finalist as well. I also particularly remember Practice, even if it’s hard to sit thru.
#21
Posted: 4/23/26 at 1:50pm
raddersons said: "Prince F****t isn’t eligible as the author is Canadian, not American."
U.S. residents are eligible regardless of citizenship. Jordan Tannahill lives in New York.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#22
Posted: 4/23/26 at 2:59pm
No, it was a cool interesting day, but it was waaaaaaaaaay to drawn out and didn't necessarily tread any new ground concerning adolescent. And that ending was laughable and cliched.
#23
Posted: 4/23/26 at 3:04pm
I heard recently that John Proctor Is The Villain might not have submitted back in 2022 & might be eligible this year? Does anyone know if that’s true or is it just some fan theory on the internet? Would be super interesting if it were eligible
#24
Posted: 4/23/26 at 3:10pm
If he lives in New York he hasn’t for very long, since he was between Budapest and London for much of the 2010s and early 2020s. The show is also very much about the British royals which is not about American life. Although I do think an extension could be made, especially the narrator / play in play aspect.
idk I just think if it qualifies, it very narrowly does.
#25
Posted: 4/23/26 at 4:41pm
Even if the author is technically eligible, I don't think Prince Faggot factors in here. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is specifically for a work that deals with American life. This play is specifically exploring a fictionalized version of the British royal family. Now one can surely make the argument that the themes are universally queer, intentionally so, and therefore we don't need to apply the messages of the play only to British culture. And of course it does include the autobiographical portions of the largely American cast, which relates the themes back to American experiences. Still the action is not set in the US and the characters are not American. So I think ultimately it gets left off this list.
That being said the Pulitzer committee is TINY. Four people I believe? (which is why we often get surprise, singular choices in the lineup). So it really only takes two jurors to think a play is "American enough" to skirt that specific qualification. I hope Liberation wins. I expect Meet the Cartozians to be there as well. Perhaps The Antiquities or Caroline fills out the slate?
Tickets From $59
Tickets From $95
Tickets From $235
Tickets From $80