Ruined, Billy Elliot and Black Watch Win New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards

Ruined, Billy Elliot and Black Watch won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the 2008-2009 season. The selections were made at the 74th annual voting meeting of the organization.

Ruined, Lynn Nottage’s haunting drama about resilience of the human spirit during times of war, won the award for Best Play. Directed by Kate Whoriskey, it is a co-production between Manhattan Theatre Club and Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. The play had its world premiere on November 18, 2008 at the Goodman Theatre, and its New York premiere on February 10, 2009 at Manhattan Theatre Club, where it is currently playing.

The Best Musical Award was given to Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry, with music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall. The tuner had its world premiere in London on May 11, 2005 and its New York premiere at the Imperial Theatre on October 1, 2008. It opened there on November 13, 2008.

Black Watch, written by Gregory Burke and directed by John Tiffany, had its world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006. A production of the National Theatre of Scotland, the play had its New York premiere at St. Ann’s Warehouse in the fall of 2007 and played a return engagement there October 9, 2008 through December 21, 2008.

Special citations were awarded to Blithe Spirit’s four-time Tony winner and five-time nominee Angela Lansbury for her contribution to the American theater, director Matthew Warchus and the cast of The Norman Conquests and Gerard Alessandrini for Forbidden Broadway.

The awards will be presented at a cocktail reception on May 11, at the Algonquin Hotel, where the NYDCC was founded in 1935 by such legendary critics as Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley.

The award for Best Play carries with it a cash prize of $2,500, while the award for Best Foreign Play carries a cash prize of $1,000. The awards are made possible by a grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

The New York Drama Critics’ Circle comprises 20 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines, and wire services based in the New York metropolitan area. Adam Feldman, theater critic for Time Out New York, has served as president of the NYDCC since 2005. Eric Grode serves as vice president and Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily News is treasurer. Additional the members of the New York Drama Critics' Circle are Hilton Als of The New Yorker, Melissa Rose Bernardo of Entertainment Weekly, David Cote of Time Out New York, Michael Feingold of the Village Voice, Robert Feldberg of The Record, Elysa Gardner of USA Today; John Heilpern of The New York Observer; Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press, David Rooney of Variety, Frank Scheck of The New York Post, David Sheward of Back Stage, John Simon of Bloomberg News, Alexis Soloski of the Village Voice, Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journa,; Elisabeth Vincentelli of The New York Post, Linda Winer of Newsday and Richard Zoglin of Time.