Pulitzer Prize for Drama facts for kids
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is a super important award given each year in the United States for amazing plays and musicals. It's one of the original Pulitzer Prizes, which started way back in 1917. This award celebrates a play or musical that was performed in the U.S. during the year before the prize is given.
Before 2007, the rules for the Drama Prize followed the "Broadway season" (from March 1st to March 2nd) instead of the regular calendar year. This was different from most other Pulitzer Prizes.
A special group of people, called the drama jury, decides who should win. This group includes one expert from a university and four critics who watch plays in New York City and other theaters around the country. Sometimes, the main Pulitzer board can disagree with the jury's choice. For example, in 1986, the board didn't agree with the jury's pick for the CIVIL warS, so no award was given that year.
In 1955, Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., who was in charge of the prizes, pushed for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to win, even though the jury thought it was the weakest play on their list. They preferred The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets or The Bad Seed. Also, in 1963, the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee was chosen by the committee, but the main board said no because of some controversial themes in the play. If Albee had won that year, he would have tied with Eugene O'Neill for the most Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.
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Pulitzer Prize for Drama Winners
Over 100 years, up to 2022, the Drama Pulitzer was given out 91 times. There were 15 years when no prize was awarded, and it was never shared by more than one play.
The most people to win the prize for one play was five! This happened in 1976 when Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood, Jr., Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlisch, and Edward Kleban all won for the musical A Chorus Line.
Early Winners (1918-1939)
The first Pulitzer Prize for Drama was awarded in 1918 to Why Marry? by Jesse Lynch Williams. Some other early winners include:
- 1920: Beyond the Horizon by Eugene O'Neill
- 1922: Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill
- 1928: Strange Interlude by Eugene O'Neill
- 1932: Of Thee I Sing by George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, and Ira Gershwin (This was the first musical to win!)
- 1938: Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Recent Winners (2020-2025)
Here are some of the most recent winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama:
- 2020: A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson
- 2021: The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall
- 2022: Fat Ham by James Ijames
- 2023: English by Sanaz Toossi
- 2024: Primary Trust by Eboni Booth
- 2025: Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Musicals that Won the Pulitzer Prize
Ten musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This is a big deal because the award is mainly for plays! These musicals are:
- Of Thee I Sing (1932) by George and Ira Gershwin
- South Pacific (1950) by Rodgers and Hammerstein
- Fiorello! (1960) by Bock & Harnick
- How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962) by Frank Loesser
- A Chorus Line (1976) by Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban, James Kirkwood, Jr., and Nicholas Dante
- Sunday in the Park with George (1985) by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
- Rent (1996) by Jonathan Larson
- Next to Normal (2010) by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt
- Hamilton (2016) by Lin-Manuel Miranda
- A Strange Loop (2020) by Michael R. Jackson
It's interesting to note that Oklahoma! received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944, even though it didn't win the Drama prize itself.
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is usually given to the playwright (the person who writes the play). But for musicals, the composer (who writes the music), the lyricist (who writes the song words), and the book writer (who writes the story and dialogue) are usually the winners.
For example, when Of Thee I Sing won in 1932, the writers George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, and the lyricist Ira Gershwin, were named winners. But the composer, George Gershwin, was not included. The reason given was that the Pulitzer Prize for Drama was for "drama," not "music." However, by 1950, when South Pacific won, the committee included composer Richard Rodgers. This showed that they started to see music as a very important part of the theater experience.
Since 1983, when the names of finalists were first shared, five other musicals have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama:
- The Gospel at Colonus (1985)
- In the Heights (2009)
- Fun Home (2014)
- A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (2017)
- Soft Power (2020)
Playwrights with Multiple Wins and Nominations
Some playwrights have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama more than once, or have been nominated many times.
Multiple Wins
- Eugene O'Neill has won the most times, with 4 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.
- Edward Albee and Robert E. Sherwood have each won 3 times.
- August Wilson, George S. Kaufman, Lynn Nottage, Thornton Wilder, and Tennessee Williams have each won 2 times.
Notable Nominations
- August Wilson has been nominated 6 times, winning twice.
- Edward Albee has been nominated 5 times, winning three times.
- Eugene O'Neill has been nominated 4 times, winning all four.
- Playwrights like Quiara Alegría Hudes, David Henry Hwang, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tracy Letts, Donald Margulies, Suzan-Lori Parks, Robert E. Sherwood, and Sam Shepard have each been nominated 3 times.
Lynn Nottage is the only female playwright to win the prize twice. She and August Wilson are also the only playwrights of color to win the prize more than once.
Some talented writers have been finalists multiple times without winning the top prize. David Henry Hwang has been a finalist three times without winning. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeanine Tesori have both been finalists twice for musicals, with Miranda winning in 2016 for Hamilton.
