# Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play

The Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play is an annual award presented by the Evening Standard since 1955, in recognition of achievement in British theatre.

## Winners and nominees
### 1950s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 1st |
| 1st | Tiger at the Gates | Christopher Fry |
| 2nd |
| 2nd | Romanoff and Juliet | Peter Ustinov |
| 3rd |
| 3rd | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Ray Lawler |
| 4th |
| 4th | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Tennessee Williams |
| 5th |
| 5th | The Long and the Short and the Tall | Willis Hall |

### 1960s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 6th |
| 6th | The Caretaker | Harold Pinter |
| 7th |
| 7th | Becket | Jean Anouilh (play) and Lucienne Hill (translation) |
| 8th |
| 8th | The Caucasian Chalk Circle | Bertolt Brecht and Eric Bentley |
| 9th |
| 9th | Poor Bitos | Jean Anouilh (play) and Lucienne Hill (translation) |
| 10th |
| 10th | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Edward Albee |
| 11th |
| 11th | The Killing of Sister George | Frank Marcus |
| 11th | A Patriot for Me | John Osborne |
| 12th |
| 12th | Loot | Joe Orton |
| 13th |
| 13th | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Peter Nichols |
| 14th |
| 14th | The Hotel in Amsterdam | John Osborne |
| 15th |
| 15th | The National Health | Peter Nichols |

### 1970s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 16th |
| 16th | Home | David Storey |
| 17th |
| 17th | Butley | Simon Gray |
| 18th |
| 18th | Jumpers | Tom Stoppard |
| 19th |
| 19th | Saturday, Sunday, Monday | Eduardo De Filippo (play), Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall (translation) |
| 20th |
| 20th | The Norman Conquests | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 21st |
| 21st | Otherwise Engaged | Simon Gray |
| 22nd |
| 22nd | Weapons of Happiness | Howard Brenton |
| 23rd |
| 23rd | Just Between Ourselves | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 24th |
| 24th | Night and Day | Tom Stoppard |
| 25th |
| 25th | Amadeus | Peter Shaffer |

### 1980s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 26th |
| 26th | The Dresser | Ronald Harwood |
| 27th |
| 27th | Passion Play | Peter Nichols |
| 28th |
| 28th | The Real Thing | Tom Stoppard |
| 29th |
| 29th | "Master Harold"...and the Boys | Athol Fugard |
| 30th |
| 30th | Benefactors | Michael Frayn |
| 31st |
| 31st | Pravda | David Hare and Howard Brenton |
| 32nd |
| 32nd | Les Liaisons Dangereuses | Christopher Hampton |
| 33rd |
| 33rd | A Small Family Business | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 34th |
| 34th | Aristocrats | Brian Friel |
| 35th |
| 35th | Ghetto | Joshua Sobol (play) and David Lan (translation) |

### 1990s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 36th |
| 36th | Shadowlands | William Nicholson |
| 37th |
| 37th | Dancing at Lughnasa | Brian Friel |
| 38th |
| 38th | Angels in America | Tony Kushner |
| 39th |
| 39th | Arcadia | Tom Stoppard |
| 40th |
| 40th | Three Tall Women | Edward Albee |
| 41st |
| 41st | Pentecost | David Edgar |
| 42nd |
| 42nd | Stanley | Pam Gems |
| 43rd |
| 43rd | The Invention of Love | Tom Stoppard |
| 44th |
| 44th | Copenhagen | Michael Frayn |
| 45th |
| N/A ||

### 2000s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 46th |
| 46th | Blue/Orange | Joe Penhall |
| 47th |
| 47th | The Far Side of the Moon | Robert Lepage |
| 47th | Mouth To Mouth | Kevin Elyot |
| 47th | The Shape Of Things | Neil LaBute |
| 48th |
| 48th | A Number | Caryl Churchill |
| 48th | The Lieutenant Of Inishmore | Martin McDonagh |
| 48th | The York Realist | Peter Gill |
| 49th |
| 49th | Democracy | Michael Frayn |
| 49th | After Mrs Rochester | Polly Teale |
| 49th | Fallout | Roy Williams |
| 50th |
| 50th | The History Boys | Alan Bennett |
| 50th | The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? | Edward Albee |
| 50th | The Pillowman | Martin McDonagh |
| 51st |
| 51st | The Home Place | Brian Friel |
| 51st | 2,000 Years | Mike Leigh |
| 51st | Bloody Sunday | Richard Norton-Taylor |
| 51st | Harvest | Richard Bean |
| 52nd |
| 52nd | Rock 'n' Roll | Tom Stoppard |
| 52nd | Frost/Nixon | Peter Morgan |
| 52nd | The Seafarer | Conor McPherson |
| 53rd |
| 53rd | A Disappearing Number | Complicité and Simon McBurney |
| 53rd | Rafta, Rafta... | Ayub Khan-Din |
| 53rd | The Reporter | Nicholas Wright |
| 54th |
| 54th | The Pitmen Painters | Lee Hall |
| 54th | Black Watch | Gregory Burke |
| 54th | Now or Later | Christopher Shinn |
| 55th |
| 55th | Jerusalem | Jez Butterworth |
| 55th | August: Osage County | Tracy Letts |
| 55th | ENRON | Lucy Prebble |
| 55th | Punk Rock | Simon Stephens |

### 2010s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 56th |
| 56th | Clybourne Park | Bruce Norris |
| 56th | Cock | Mike Bartlett |
| 56th | Sucker Punch | Roy Williams |
| 57th |
| 57th | The Heretic | Richard Bean |
| 57th | One Man, Two Guvnors | Richard Bean |
| 57th | Becky Shaw | Gina Gionfriddo |
| 57th | Tribes | Nina Raine |
| 58th |
| 58th | Constellations | Nick Payne |
| 58th | This House | James Graham |
| 58th | Love and Information | Caryl Churchill |
| 59th |
| 59th | Chimerica | Lucy Kirkwood |
| 59th | The Dark Earth and the Light Sky | Nick Dear |
| 59th | The Effect | Lucy Prebble |
| 60th |
| 60th | The James Plays | Rona Munro |
| 60th | Intimate Apparel | Lynn Nottage |
| 60th | King Charles III | Mike Bartlett |
| 60th | The Nether | Jennifer Haley |
| 61st |
| 61st | The Motherfucker with the Hat | Stephen Adly Guirgis |
| 61st | Hangmen | Martin McDonagh |
| 61st | The Father | Florian Zeller (play) and Christopher Hampton (translation) |
| 62nd |
| 62nd | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany |
| 62nd | Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 and 3) | Suzan-Lori Parks |
| 62nd | The Flick | Annie Baker |
| 63rd |
| 63rd | The Ferryman | Jez Butterworth |
| 63rd | The Children | Lucy Kirkwood |
| 63rd | Ink | James Graham |
| 63rd | Oslo | J. T. Rogers |
| 64th |
| 64th | The Inheritance | Matthew Lopez |
| 64th | Home, I’m Darling | Laura Wade |
| 64th | John | Annie Baker |
| 64th | The Lehman Trilogy | Stefano Massini (play) and Ben Power (translation) |
| 64th | The Writer | Ella Hickson |
| 65th |
| 65th | Sweat | Lynn Nottage |
| 65th | Downstate | Bruce Norris |
| 65th | ear for eye | debbie tucker green |
| 65th | Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. | Caryl Churchill |

### 2020s

| Ceremony | Play | Writer |
| 66th |
| 66th | Best of Enemies | James Graham |
| 66th | Indecent | Paula Vogel |
| 66th | Red Pitch | Tyrell Williams |
| 66th | The Father and the Assassin | Anupama Chandrasekhar |
| 66th | The Mirror and the Light | Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles |
| 67th |
| 67th | The Motive and the Cue | Jack Thorne |
| 67th | Dear England | James Graham |
| 67th | A Mirror | Sam Holcroft |
| 67th | Retrograde | Ryan Calais Cameron |

## Multiple awards

6 awards
* Tom Stoppard
3 awards
* Alan Ayckbourn
* Michael Frayn
* Peter Nichols
2 awards
* Edward Albee
* Howard Brenton
* Jez Butterworth
* Simon Gray
* Willis Hall
* Lucienne Hill
* John Osborne
* Jack Thorne