Pulitzer Prize Winning Plays

Rainy Sunday? Or keen to get some more plays under your belt? This is a great place to start!  The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is for a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life. It is one of the most prestigious awards for theatre in the world with notable past recipients such as Neil Simon, Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams. The following list dates back to 1918, and includes all the nominations as well as the winner, listed in bold. This is the official list of Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: 

2020

Winner: A Strange Loop, by Michael R. Jackson

Finalists: Heroes of the Fourth Turning, by Will Arbery
Soft Power, by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori

2019

Winner: Fairview, by Jackie Sibblies Drury

Finalists: Dance Nation, by Clare Barron
What the Constitution Means to Me, by Heidi Schreck

2018

Winner: Cost of Living, by Martyna Majok

Finalists: Everybody, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
The Minutes, by Tracy Letts

2017

Winner: Sweat, by Lynn Nottage

Finalists: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, by Taylor Mac
The Wolves, by Sarah DeLappe

2016

Winner: Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Finalists: Gloria, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
The Humans, by Stephen Karam

2015

Winner: Between Riverside and Crazy, by Stephen Adly Guirgis

Finalists: Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, 3), by Suzan-Lori Parks
Marjorie Prime, by Jordan Harrison

2014

Winner: The Flick, by Annie Baker

Finalists: Fun Home, by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori
The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, by Madeleine George

2013

Winner: Disgraced, by Ayad Akhtar

Finalists: 4000 Miles, by Amy Herzog
Rapture, Blister, Burn, by Gina Gionfriddo

2012

Winner: Water by the Spoonful, by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Finalists: Other Desert Cities, by Jon Robin Baitz
Sons of the Prophet, by Stephen Karam

2011

Winner: Clybourne Park, by Bruce Norris

Finalists: A Free Man of Color, by John Guare
Detroit, by Lisa D’Amour

2010

Winner: Next to Normal, by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey

Finalists: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, by Rajiv Joseph
In the Next Room or the vibrator play, by Sarah Ruhl
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, by Kristoffer Diaz

2009

Winner: Ruined, by Lynn Nottage

Finalists: Becky Shaw, by Gina Gionfriddo
In The Heights, by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes

2008

Winner: August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts

Finalists: Dying City, by Christopher Shinn
Yellow Face, by David Henry Hwang

2007

Winner: Rabbit Hole, by David Lindsay-Abaire

Finalists: Bulrusher, by Eisa Davis
Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue, by Quiara Alegria Hudes
Orpheus X, by Rinde Eckert

2006

~No award given~

Finalists: Miss Witherspoon, by Christopher Durang
Red Light Winter, by Adam Rapp
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, by Rolin Jones

2005

Winner: Doubt, a parable, by John Patrick Shanley

Finalists: The Clean House, by Sarah Ruhl.
Thom Pain (based on nothing), by Will Eno

2004

Winner: I Am My Own Wife, by Doug Wright

Finalists: Man from Nebraska, by Tracy Letts
Omnium Gatherum, by Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros

2003

Winner: Anna in the Tropics, by Nilo Cruz

Finalists: Take Me Out, by Richard Greenberg
The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, by Edward Albee

2002

Winner: Topdog/Underdog, by Suzan-Lori Parks

Finalists: The Glory of Living, by Rebecca Gilman
Yellowman, by Dael Orlandersmith

2001

Winner: Proof, by David Auburn

Finalists: The Play About the Baby, by Edward Albee
The Waverly Gallery, by Kenneth Lonergan

2000

Winner: Dinner With Friends, by Donald Margulies

Finalists: In the Blood, by Suzan-Lori Parks
King Hedley II, by August Wilson

1999

Winner: Wit, by Margaret Edson

Finalists: Running Man, by Cornelius Eady and Diedre Murray
Side Man, by Warren Leight

1998

Winner: How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel

Finalists: Freedomland, by Amy Freed
Three Days of Rain, by Richard Greenberg

1997

~ No award given ~

Finalists: Collected Stories, by Donald Margulies
Pride’s Crossing, by Tina Howe
The Last Night of Ballyhoo, by Alfred Uhry

1996

Winner: Rent, by Jonathan Larson

Finalists: A Fair Country, by Jon Robin Baitz
Old Wicked Songs, by Jon Marans

1995

Winner: The Young Man From Atlanta, by Horton Foote

Finalists: Seven Guitars, by August Wilson
The Cryptogram, by David Mamet

1994

Winner: Three Tall Women, by Edward Albee

Finalists: A Perfect Ganesh, by Terrence McNally
Keely and Du, by Jane Martin (a pseudonym)

1993

Winner: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, by Tony Kushner

Finalists: Fires in the Mirror, by Anna Deavere Smith
The Destiny of Me, by Larry Kramer

1992

Winner: The Kentucky Cycle, by Robert Schenkkan

Finalists: Conversations With My Father, by Herb Gardner
Miss Evers’ Boys, by David Feldshuh
Sight Unseen, by Donald Margulies
Two Trains Running, by August Wilson

1991

Winner: Lost in Yonkers, by Neil Simon

Finalists: Prelude to a Kiss, by Craig Lucas
Six Degrees of Separation, by John Guare

1990

Winner: The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson

Finalists: And What of the Night?, by Maria Irene Fornes
Love Letters, by A.R. Gurney

1989

Winner: The Heidi Chronicles, by Wendy Wasserstein

Finalists: Butterfly, by David Henry Hwang
The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson

1988

Winner: Driving Miss Daisy, by Alfred Uhry

Finalists: Boy’s Life, by Howard Korder
Talk Radio, by Eric Bogosian

1987

Winner: Fences, by August Wilson

Finalists: A Walk in the Woods, by Lee Blessing
Broadway Bound, by Neil Simon

1985

Winner: Sunday in the Park With George, by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine

Finalists: The Dining Room, by A.R. Gurney Jr.
The Gospel at Colonus, by Lee Breuer and Bob Telson

1984

Winner: Glengarry Glen Ross, by David Mamet

Finalists: Fool for Love, by Sam Shepard
Painting Churches, by Tina Howe

1983

Winner: Night, Mother, by Marsha Norman

Finalists: True West, by Sam Shepard

1982

Winner: A Soldier’s Play, by Charles Fuller

1981

Winner: Crimes of the Heart, by Beth Henley

1980

Winner: Talley’s Folly, by Lanford Wilson

1979

Winner: Buried Child, by Sam Shepard

1978

Winner: The Gin Game, by Donald L. Coburn

1977

Winner: The Shadow Box, by Michael Cristofer

1976

Winner: A Chorus Line, by Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood, Jr., Marvin Hamlisch, Nicholas Dante and Edward Kleban

1975

Winner: Seascape, by Edward Albee

1973

Winner: That Championship Season, by Jason Miller

1971

Winner: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds, by Paul Zindel

1970

Winner: No Place To Be Somebody, by Charles Gordone

1969

Winner: The Great White Hope, by Howard Sackler

1967

Winner: A Delicate Balance, by Edward Albee

1965

Winner: The Subject Was Roses, by Frank D. Gilroy

1962

Winner: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, by Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows

1961

Winner: All The Way Home, by Tad Mosel

1960

Winner: Fiorello!, by Jerome Weidman, George Abbott, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick

1959

Winner: J.B., by Archibald Macleish

1958

Winner: Look Homeward, Angel, by Ketti Frings

1957

Winner: Long Day’s Journey Into Night, by Eugene O’Neill

1956

Winner: Diary of Anne Frank, by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich

1955

Winner: Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams

1954

Winner: The Teahouse of the August Moon, by John Patrick

1953

Winner: Picnic, by William Inge

1952

Winner: The Shrike, by Joseph Kramm

1950

Winner: South Pacific, by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan

1949

Winner: Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller

1948

Winner: A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams

1946

Winner: State of the Union, by Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay

1945

Winner: Harvey, by Mary Chase

1943

Winner: The Skin of Our Teeth, by Thornton Wilder

1941

Winner: There Shall Be No Night, by Robert E. Sherwood

1940

Winner: The Time of Your Life, by William Saroyan

1939

Winner: Abe Lincoln in Illinois, by Robert E. Sherwood

1938

Winner: Our Town, by Thornton Wilder

1937

Winner: You Can’t Take It With You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman

1936

Winner: Idiots Delight, by Robert E. Sherwood

1935

Winner: The Old Maid, by Zoe Akins

1934

Winner: Men in White, by Sidney Kingsley

1933

Winner: Both Your Houses, by Maxwell Anderson

1932

Winner: Of Thee I Sing, by George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin

1931

Winner: Alison’s House, by Susan Glaspell

1930

Winner: The Green Pastures, by Marc Connelly

1929

Winner: Street Scene, by Elmer L. Rice

1928

Winner: Strange Interlude, by Eugene O’Neill

1927

Winner: In Abraham’s Bosom, by Paul Green

1926

Winner: Craig’s Wife, by George Kelly

1925

Winner: They Knew What They Wanted, by Sidney Howard

1924

Winner: Hell-Bent Fer Heaven, by Hatcher Hughes

1923

Winner: Icebound, by Owen Davis

1922

Winner: Anna Christie, by Eugene O’Neill

1921

Winner: Miss Lulu Bett, by Zona Gale

1920

Winner: Beyond the Horizon, by Eugene O’Neill

1918

Winner: Why Marry?, by Jesse Lynch Williams