The 1980s saw the beginnings of new playwrights like Christopher Durang, Harvey Fierstein, and David Henry Hwang, all receiving Obie Awards.
Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman joined the Obies family winnings Obies in performance.
Winners
Playwriting Workshop
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The Frank Silva Workshop
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GRANT Intar Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Laboratory
Obie Grant
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The Living Theater
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Cucaracha Warehouse Theater
Sustained Achievement
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Irene Worth
Design
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Susan Young
Sustained Excellence of Costume Design
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Gabriel Berry
Sustained Excellence of Costume Design
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Donald Eastman
Sustained Excellence of Set Design
Performance
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William Converse-Roberts
Love's Labor's Lost
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Will Patton
What Did He See?
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Tim McDonnell
Diary of a Madman
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Rocco Sisto
The Winter's Tale
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Paul Hecht
Enrico IV
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Niall Buggy
Aristocrats
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Nancy Marchand
The Cocktail Hour
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Mark Blum
Gus and Al
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Lonny Price
The Immigrant
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Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney
The Kathy and Mo Show
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Gloria Foster
The Forbidden City
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Fyvush Finkel
Cafe Crown
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Everett Quinton
A Tale of Two Cities
Direction
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Rene Buch
Sustained Excellence of Direction
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Peter Stein
Falstaff
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Ingmar Bergman
Hamlet
Special Citations
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The Dramatists Guild
for the Young Playwrights Festival
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Tamamatsu Yoshida
The Warrior Ant
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Rachel Rosenthal
Rachel's Brain
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Paul Zaloom
The House of Horror
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Leo Bassi
Nero's Last Folly
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Janie Geiser
Stories From Here
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Dance Theater Workshop
Obie Committee
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Ross Wetzsteon, Eileen Blumenthal, Michael Feingold, Robert Massa, Erika Munk, Julius Novick, Gordon Rogoff, Martha Coigney, Margo Jefferson