Guards at the Taj, Cast of Eclipsed & More Receive 2016 Obie Awards

Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj was one of the big winners at the 61st annual Obie Awards on May 23, taking home the prize for Best New American Play. Meanwhile, honorees in the performance category included Jayne Houdyshell for The Humans, Ben Platt for Dear Evan Hansen and the ensemble cast of Eclipsed: Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah, Lupita Nyong’o and Saycon Sengbloh. Hosted by Lea DeLaria, the event took place at Webster Hall and the evening’s festivities included a special performance by 2016 Tony nominee Leslie Odom Jr. of "Without You," to mark the 20th Anniversary of Rent.

See below for a complete list of winners.

Playwriting
Lucas Hnath, The Christians and Red Speedo
Stephen Karam, The Humans

Musical Theater
Steven Levenson (book), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (music & lyrics), Dear Evan Hansen

Direction
Rachel Chavkin, The Royale
Michael Leibenluft, I’ll Never Love Again

Performance
Khris Davis, The Royale
Emily Donahoe, The Christians
Georgia Engel, John
Ensemble, Eclipsed: Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah, Lupita Nyong’o, Saycon Sengbloh
Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans
Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed, Guards at the Taj
Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
Lucas Caleb Rooney, Red Speedo
Tamara Tunie, Familiar

Design
Rachel Hauck, Sustained Excellence of Set Design
Jason Lyons, Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design
James Ortiz, Puppet Design, The Woodsman
Bray Poor, Sustained Excellence of Sound Design
Kaye Voyce, Sustained Excellence of Costume Design

Special Citations: Collaboration
Annie Baker (playwright), Sam Gold (director) and the design team of John
Mark Barton (lighting), Ásta Bennie Hostetter (costumes), Mimi Lien (set), Noah Mease (props), Bray Poor (sound) Dominique Morisseau (playwright) and Ruben Santiago-Hudson (director), Skeleton Crew

Obie Grants ($4,000 prize to each theater)
Bedlam Theatre
Noor Theatre
Prospect Theatre Company

The Ross Wetzsteon Award ($3,000 prize)
NAATCO/National Asian American Theatre Company

Best New American Play ($1,000 prize)
Guards at the Taj by Rajiv Joseph (Atlantic Theatre Company

Lifetime Achievement Award
Carmen de Lavallade
A.R. Gurney