Taylor Reynolds and Heather Alicia Simms will chair the Obie Awards judging committee for a second year running, the American Theatre Wing announced on October 29, as it named the rest of the panel for the 71st Obies and set the window for which Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows are in contention.
Eight judges sit alongside the two co-chairs for the 2026–2027 season: Obie-winning set designer Afsoon Pajoufar; Carmelita Tropicana, a past recipient of the Obie for Lifetime Achievement; Obie-winning costume designer Oana Botez; Obie-winning director and designer Jared Mezzocchi; Broadway performers Maria-Christina Oliveras and Maechi Aharanwa; Spencer Scott Barros, a founding member of the Obie-winning producing collective Harlem 9; and arts activist Raquel Almazan.
Shows that open between September 1, 2026, and August 31, 2027, are eligible, provided the work is performed in person. The Wing puts the number of productions the judges consider in a season at more than 300.
The Obies keep their deliberately loose shape. Only a handful of awards are fixed: Lifetime Achievement, Best New American Play, the Ross Wetzsteon Award Grant for a theater that nurtures innovative new plays, the Michael Feingold Award for contributions such as criticism, dramaturgy, translation, scholarship, mentorship or education, and the Morgan Jenness Award for an often-overlooked figure who has championed new voices. Every other category is left open, which is how the Special Citations have become the most crowded line on the list. The judges can also hand up to four Theatre Grants to companies whose work they want to support.
Companies can invite the judges by writing to obieinvites@americantheatrewing.org, and upcoming productions can be submitted through the form on the Obie Awards website.
The previous cycle is still to be settled. Eligibility for the 70th Obies, covering the 2025–2026 season, closed on August 31, 2026, and those winners will be announced in January 2027.
