Mary Jane, Hangmen Win 2018 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards; Cursed Child Receives Special Citation

The New York Drama Critics' Circle has named Mary Jane by Amy Herzog best play of the 2017-18 season. Hangmen by Martin McDonagh was named best foreign play. No award was given for best musical. The selections were made at the organization's 83rd annual voting meeting. Awards will be presented at a private cocktail reception on May 10.

The award for best play carries a cash prize of $2,500. The prize is made possible by a grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

Mary Jane, written by Amy Herzog and directed by Anne Kauffman, received its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in May 2017 and its New York premiere at New York Theatre Workshop on September 25, 2017. The New York production closed on October 29, 2017.

Hangmen, written by Martin McDonagh and directed by Matthew Dunster, had its world premiere at London's Royal Court Theatre in September 2015 before receiving its West End premiere on December 7, 2015. The play's New York premiere was on February 5, 2018 at the Atlantic Theater Company; the production concluded its run on March 25, 2018.

Special citations were voted to Park Avenue Armory for adventurous theater programming; to the theater company Transport Group; and to the staging, design and illusions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The New York Drama Critics’ Circle comprises 19 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines, wire services and websites based in the New York metropolitan area. The New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, which has been awarded every year since 1936 to the best new play of the season (with optional awards for foreign or American plays, musicals and special achievements), is the nation's second-oldest theater award, after the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.