Why isn't there a Tony category for "Best Script of a Play"?

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 9/27/21 at 6:42pm

The Oscars have "Best Screenplay" in addition to "Best Picture", and musicals have "Best Book of a Musical" and "Best Musical". And we know that "Best Play" is more so for overall production rather than the script itself. Any ideas as to why this category doesn't exist?

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/27/21 at 6:58pm

You mean the ultimate theatre awards have actually never rewarded the playwright?!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 9/27/21 at 7:44pm

This has been a long, ongoing conversation for years. There really should be separate categories, and it's becoming more and more necessary by the year, but there's no change in sight. And I do have a theory as to why the Tonys have historically not had this category:

I think it's largely a cultural thing, built around the history of American plays. Historically, American plays have been fairly text-driven. The writing is the star, and the production is just there to support the writing. While I'm sure there were exceptions to this, this is was the norm for decades. 

Meanwhile, the culture around English/European theatre in the past few decades has leaned more toward director-driven theatre, which is, by extension, more production-driven. Again, this isn't always the case (there are many fantastic English and Euorpean playwrights), but it's a broad-strokes cultural thing. Even today in the US, it's not as common to see big, lavish, production-driven plays unless they're coming from across the pond. And so, in recent years we've been getting more and more of these imports, which has shined a light on the need for these split categories. 

So in theory, this should inspire them to change it. But I think the worry is that these production-driven imports might not be frequent enough to justify filling a whole separate category. We may end up with a situation where there are 10 really great text-driven shows for every 1 Cursed Child. And sure, those text-driven shows might have really strong productions, but it won't feel as easy to separate from the writing. 

But I think now more than ever the need for a split category is urgently needed (well, as "urgently" as anything is needed when it comes to a subjective awards show). This season, we have Dana H and Is This a Room premiering on Broadway, both of which are pieces of verbatim theatre. Which means that if Dana H were to be nominated, for example, Lucas Hnath would receive a Tony nomination for putting his mother's words onstage verbatim. Granted, he did work to curate that text for the stage, and he did a great job of it. But it's totally unfair to ask the voters to compare that kind of work to a playwright who wrote a new play from scratch. It's not that one is "better" than the other, but the idea of putting those in the same category is ludicrous from an artistic standpoint. 

Updated On: 9/27/21 at 07:44 PM

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 9/27/21 at 8:48pm

When spectacular productions like War Horse and Cursed Child win Best Play, and well deserved, but they certainly don't have the best text, there needs to be a split. 

[SoCalDirector]

Posted: 9/27/21 at 10:22pm

The Tony Award for Best Author is a now retired category once presented to playwrights, authors and librettists of theatrical plays and musicals. Only nine awards were presented from 1947 to 1965, and it is often grouped with the category Best Book of a Musical.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 9/27/21 at 11:58pm

Trivia: The oddest year to me was the 1965 Tonys, where they split the play among 3 categories: Frank Gilroy's ''The Subject Was Roses'' won for Best Play. Claire Nichtern (''Luv'' ) won for Best Producer (Dramatic). And Neil Simon (''The Odd Couple'' ) won for Best Author (Dramatic). Curiously, the same four plays were nominated for both Best Play and Best Author, but how Tony voters made the distinction, and gave those awards to different shows is baffling.

Updated On: 9/27/21 at 11:58 PM

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 9/28/21 at 12:09am

If there was one, The Sound Inside should easily win it. Just a much better written play than all the competitors.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/28/21 at 3:10pm

I do think this is more necessary, especially now that we have things like Dana H/Is This a Room, but even for original plays that aren't big productions like Harry Potter, I feel like the production award should be more about how everything comes together (cast, costuming, set, etc) rather than the text itself.  I wasn't a fan of The Sound Inside, but I do think the direction/light/setting created a completely different mood than if they had chosen to go in another direction with how they presented it.

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 9/28/21 at 5:11pm

Would The Inheritance still have won Best Play if the casting and acting were terrible?