Why Do The Tony's Not Have Separate Writing Awards For Plays?

[Soaring29]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 10:18pm

I know that the playwright wins the Tony in addition to the producers but why don't they divide awards for play writing? Obviously at the Oscars the writing categories have been designated between Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay for quite a while with some changes throughout but they have remained largely the same for nearly 60 years at least in how they have been designated  fundamentally between work that isn't directly adapted from a source and work that is. The Musical categories could very easily only honor the score and the book in the same way with the music team and the writing team winning for Best Musical as well as the producers but they are rightfully not. I don't think that anybody disagrees on the notion that the Best Play award is not just for the writing but for all the aspects of the play combined that create the best theatrical experience. So why can't the writing be honored separately as there most certainly have been stronger plays in terms of writing that have lost out in the big category due to a more expansive theatrical experience(I'm looking at you Harry Potter And The Cursed Child!). Any info on this?

Updated On: 5/5/19 at 10:18 PM

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 11:43pm

I usually don't think we need a separate award because usually it's the actual play (text and all) that's being rewarded, but when Harry Potter won Best Play I really really wished we had that separate writing category.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 11:46pm

War Horse too.  Never should have won Best Play, but should have won for Best Production.

[Tom5]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 11:56pm

The lead producer (and sometimes others) have priority to speak after winning best play. The playwright (even Shakespeare had Hamlet won) has to wait until the producer is finished. Sometimes they talk for so long the playwright barely has the time to say "Thank you". One time recently the producer went on for so long  the music came up before he even had a chance to say anything.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 12:03am

It's easy to point fingers at individual weak years, but I can think of only 3 years since 2000 where the award really should have deviated (Potter/??? in '18, Clybourne Park/Starcatcher in '12, and War Horse/Mofo with the Hat in '11). And in 2018, the plays were so weak, the Potter script probably would have got swept up in the love anyways.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 12:18am

Actually last year is one year I'd have given both to Potter because the plays were so weak. But I actually would have given separate awards all of the following years of the last decade(production/writing):

2017 - Oslo (or Indecent)/Doll's House Part 2
2016 - King Charles III/The Humans
2014 - All The Way (or Act One)/Casa Valentina
2013 - Peter and the Starcatcher/Other Desert Cities (neither to Clybourne Park)
2012 - War Horse/Good People
2010 - Red (or Next Fall)/Time Stands Still
2009 - 33 Variations/God of Carnage
 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 12:25am

Tom5 said: "The lead producer (and sometimes others) have priority to speak after winning best play. The playwright (even Shakespeare had Hamlet won) has to wait until the producer is finished."

There's no official priority –– it's handled on a case-by-case basis between the producer and the playwright. But yes, often the producer speaks first (and goes on a little too long).

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 1:46am

We already have the puzzlement that results when a musical wins best book and score, but loses the big prize to something else. But we understand that musicals especially are a collaborative form, in which staging, choreography and even design may contribute as much to the evening as the script.

I think it's fine we avoid the embarrassment with straight plays (most of which aren't as spectacle-focused as musicals). If a playwright wins for Best Play while a producer wins Best Production for something else, what does that say? That the producers of the best play screwed up the production? That the producers of the best production chose an inferior script to begin with?

I predict that splitting the awards will only create more confusion and dissension, not more clarity. We already give a lot of Tony Awards, considering only a few dozen productions are even eligible. A better solution would be to give "Best Play" double time for acceptance speeches and split that time between producers and playwright.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 3:16am

I think separate awards do recognize dramatic writing.  Surely the most neglected category is musical director?

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 5:40am

Part of this has to do with the influx of British productions coming to the US. It's much more common in England to have production-driven plays (partly because they aren't as focused on musicals over there). As others have said, most years there isn't much need to distinguish between production and script, because in most years it's the dramatic writing that takes the lead in most (or all) of the nominated shows. But when you throw the British production-driven shows into the mix (Harry Potter, War Horse, Curious Incident), it throws off the game. 

Updated On: 5/6/19 at 05:40 AM