Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play

The Tony Award for Best Direction has been given since 1947. In 1960, the award was split into two categories: "Dramatic" and "Musical". In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play. For post-1960 musical awards please reference Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.

Award winners

1940s

*1947 Elia Kazan – "All My Sons"
*1948 Joshua Logan – "Mister Roberts"
*1949 Elia Kazan – "Death of a Salesman"

1950s

*1950 Joshua Logan – "South Pacific"
*1951 George S. Kaufman – "Guys and Dolls"
*1952 José Ferrer – "The Shrike" and "The Fourposter" and "Stalag 17"
*1953 Joshua Logan – "Picnic"
*1954 Alfred Lunt – "Ondine"
*1955 Robert Montgomery – "The Desperate Hours"
*1956 Tyrone Guthrie – "The Matchmaker"
*1957 Moss Hart – "My Fair Lady"
*1958 Vincent J. Donehue – "Sunrise at Campobello"
*1959 Elia Kazan – "J.B."

1960s

*1960 Arthur Penn – "The Miracle Worker"
*1961 John Gielgud – "Big Fish, Little Fish"
*1962 Noel Willman – "A Man for All Seasons"
*1963 Alan Schneider – "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
*1964 Mike Nichols – "Barefoot in the Park"
*1965 Mike Nichols – "The Odd Couple" and "Luv"
*1966 Peter Brook – "Marat/Sade"
*1967 Peter Hall – "The Homecoming"
*1968 Mike Nichols – "Plaza Suite"
*1969 Peter Dews – "Hadrian VII"

1970s

*1970 Joseph Hardy – "Child's Play"
*1971 Peter Brook – "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
*1972 Mike Nichols – "The Prisoner of Second Avenue"
*1973 A. J. Antoon – "That Championship Season"
*1974 José Quintero – "A Moon for the Misbegotten"
*1975 John Dexter – "Equus"
*1976 Ellis Rabb – "The Royal Family"
*1977 Gordon Davidson – "The Shadow Box"
*1978 Melvin Bernhardt – "Da"
*1979 Jack Hofsiss – "The Elephant Man"

1980s

*1980 Vivian Matalon – "Morning's at Seven"
*1981 Peter Hall – "Amadeus"
*1982 Trevor Nunn / John Caird – "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby"
*1983 Gene Saks – "Brighton Beach Memoirs"
*1984 Mike Nichols – "The Real Thing"
*1985 Gene Saks – "Biloxi Blues"
*1986 Jerry Zaks – "The House of Blue Leaves"
*1987 Lloyd Richards – "Fences"
*1988 John Dexter – "M. Butterfly"
*1989 Jerry Zaks – "Lend Me a Tenor"

1990s

*1990 Frank Galati – "The Grapes of Wrath"
*1991 Jerry Zaks – "Six Degrees of Separation"
*1992 Patrick Mason – "Dancing at Lughnasa"
*1993 George C. Wolfe – ""
*1994 Stephen Daldry – "An Inspector Calls"
*1995 Gerald Gutierrez – "The Heiress"
*1996 Gerald Gutierrez – "A Delicate Balance"
*1997 Anthony Page – "A Doll's House"
*1998 Garry Hynes – "The Beauty Queen of Leenane"
*1999 Robert Falls – "Death of a Salesman"

2000s

*2000 Michael Blakemore – "Copenhagen"
*2001 Daniel J. Sullivan – "Proof"
*2002 Mary Zimmerman – "Metamorphoses"
*2003 Joe Mantello – "Take Me Out"
*2004 Jack O'Brien – "Henry IV"
*2005 Doug Hughes – ""
*2006 Nicholas Hytner – "The History Boys"
*2007 Jack O'Brien – "The Coast of Utopia"
*2008 Anna D. Shapiro – ""