‘Good People,’ ‘Book of Mormon,’ ‘Jerusalem’ Take Top Honors at New York Drama Critics Circle Awards

The 76th annual New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards have hailed ‘Good People’ as this year’s Best Play. The David Lindsay-Abaire drama took the top distinction for plays, which is also worth $2,500, beating out ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Other Desert Cities’ and ‘The Motherf**ker with the Hat’ after four rounds of ballot voting and earning 34 points for the win. The voting process was conducted on May 9th while the formal awarding of prizes will be held on the 16th at the Angus McIndoe Restaurant.

Jez Butterworth’s ‘Jerusalem’ didn’t go home empty handed though. After three rounds of voting, the dark comedic play earned the Best Foreign Play honors with 30 points and took home $1,000. On the other hand, the choice for Best Musical was a piece of cake for the critics, as it hailed ‘The Book of Mormon’ as this year’s best only after a single round of ballot voting.

Special awards were also given to the Tony Award nominated epic play ‘War Horse’ for its direction, set design and impressive use of life size puppetry, to the Broadway rebirth of the HIV/AIDS inspired drama ‘The Normal Heart’, and also to actor Mark Rylance, for his outstanding performances in two productions, ‘La Bete’ and ’Jerusalem’.

So the big question is, will this year’s NY Drama Critics’ winners also be this year’s Tony winners? Probably, although the circle only makes up a part of the Tony Awards voters, still, its nominees mirror closely those of the Tony’s, so the results this June are still something to look forward to.

A grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation paved the way for the money prizes awarded by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle to its winners.