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Bess Wohl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bess Wohl
Wohl in 2026
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
Occupations
  • Playwright
  • screenwriter
  • actress

Bess Wohl is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress whose plays include Grand Horizons, Small Mouth Sounds, Liberation, and the book for the musical Pretty Filthy with composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and The Civilians. For Grand Horizons, Wohl was nominated for the 2020 Tony Award for Best Play. On May 4, 2026, the Pulitzer Prize board announced that Liberation was awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[1][2]

Early life

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Wohl grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where she developed a love of theater. She went to Harvard College for an AB in English, and then went to the Yale School of Drama for an MFA in acting. While at Yale, she created the play Cats Talk Back, which went on to the New York International Fringe Festival, where it won Best Overall Production.[3] She describes her heritage as Jewish, Mormon, and Irish Catholic.[4]

Career

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Wohl's plays have been produced in numerous venues in New York City and around the United States.

Her play, Barcelona premiered in 2012 at the Contemporary American Theater Festival,[5] before transferring to Los Angeles at the Geffen Playhouse, starring Betty Gilpin and Carlos Leal.[6] In 2024, it made its West End debut in a production starring Lily Collins and Álvaro Morte.[7]

Pretty Filthy, which ran Off-Broadway from January 2015 to March 1, 2015, was nominated for the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Musical, and the 2015 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Musical. Bess also won the 2015 Sam Norkin Special Drama Desk Award for “establishing herself as an important voice in New York theater, and having a breakthrough year.”[8]

Small Mouth Sounds premiered Off-Broadway at Ars Nova in 2015 to wide critical acclaim.[9] The play also was produced in 2016 at the Off-Broadway Signature Theatre[10] and has been performed in a US national tour in 2017.[11] Wohl won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award, presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright for Small Mouth Sounds in 2017.[12]

Wohl's Grand Horizons began previews on Broadway at the Hayes Theater, presented by Second Stage Theater on December 23, 2019 and opened on January 23, 2020.[13][14] This play marked her Broadway debut.[15] Grand Horizons premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in July 2019, directed by Leigh Silverman. The play is co-commissioned by Williamstown Theatre Festival and Second Stage Theater.[16] Grand Horizons was nominated for the 2020 Tony Award for Best Play.

Her play Camp Siegfried opened at The Old Vic theatre in London in September 2021.[17]

She then wrote the play, Liberation, which explores the second-wave feminism movement in the 1970s in Ohio. Wohl said she was inspired to write the play by her mother, Lisa Cronin Wohl, who worked at Ms. magazine during her youth. The play opened to acclaim, with the New York Times calling it "gutting and inventive,"[18] and it was nominated for the 2025 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and won the 2025 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. The play transferred to Broadway in fall of 2025 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, as Wohl's second Broadway credit.

Credits

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Year Title Role Venue Ref.
2004 Chinese Friends Alegra Off-Broadway, Playwrights Horizons [19]
2014 American Hero Playwright Off-Broadway, Second Stage Theatre
2015 Pretty Filthy Book Off-Broadway, Abrons Arts Center
Small Mouth Sounds Playwright Off-Broadway, Ars Nova
2016 Off-Broadway, Signature Theatre Company
2017 U.S. National Tour
2019 Continuity Off-Broadway, Manhattan Theatre Club
Make Believe Off-Broadway, Second Stage Theatre
Grand Horizons Regional, Williamstown Theatre Festival
2020 Broadway, Hayes Theater
2021 Camp Siegfried West End, The Old Vic Theatre
2024 Barcelona West End, Duke of York's Theatre
2025 Liberation Off-Broadway, Laura Pels Theatre
Broadway, James Earl Jones Theatre [20]

Honors and awards

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Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2015 Drama Desk Award Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award American Hero, Pretty Filthy and Small Mouth Sounds Won [19]
2017 Outer Critics Circle Awards John Gassner Playwright Award Small Mouth Sounds Won
2020 Tony Award Best Play Grand Horizons Nominated
Drama League Award Outstanding Production of a Play Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Make Believe Nominated
2022 Evening Standard Theatre Awards Promising Playwright Nominated [21]
2025 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Play Liberation Nominated [22]
Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Won [23]
Drama League Award Outstanding Production of a Play Nominated [24]
2026 Won [25]
Tony Award Best Play Pending [26]
Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize for Drama Won [27][28]

References

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  1. ^ "2026 Pulitzer Prizes". pulitzer.org.Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  2. ^ "2026 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Drama, Bess Wohl". pulitzer.org.Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  3. ^ Gibson, Lydialyle (January 2019). "Playwright Beth Wohl: a profile". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  4. ^ Jackel, Miranda (2025-12-04). "Inside "Liberation," the Jewish Feminist Broadway Sensation". Lilith Magazine. Retrieved 2026-05-26.
  5. ^ "Production History". Contemporary American Theater Festival. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  6. ^ "Barcelona". Geffen Playhouse. 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  7. ^ Gans, Andrew (October 21, 2024). "Lily Collins and Álvaro Morte Make West End Debuts in Bess Wohl's Barcelona Beginning October 21". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  8. ^ "Pretty Filthy Off-Broadway" Internet Off-Broadway database, accessed January 13, 2020
  9. ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura (April 6, 2015). "In Bess Wohl's 'Small Mouth Sounds,' a Loss for Words Leads to a Gain in Insight". New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  10. ^ Small Mouth Sounds, 2016" Internet Off-Broadway database, accessed January 13, 2020
  11. ^ Clement, Olivia. " Small Mouth Sounds to Launch National Tour" Playbill, April 11, 1997
  12. ^ "Winners List, 2017" outercritics.org, accessed January 14, 2020
  13. ^ Clement, Olivia (December 23, 2019). "Bess Wohl's Grand Horizons Begins on Broadway December 23". Playbill.com. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  14. ^ "Read Reviews for Grand Horizons on Broadway" Playbill, January 23, 2020
  15. ^ Montpelier, Rachel. "Playwright Bess Wohl Making Her Broadway Debut with “Grand Horizons”" womenandhollywood.com, March 28, 2019
  16. ^ Grand Horizons at Williamstown" wtfestival.org, accessed January 2020
  17. ^ "Camp Siegfried at the Old Vic – first look at rehearsals | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  18. ^ "Bess Wohl's 'Liberation' Is Heading to Broadway This Fall". The New York Times. 2025-07-31. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  19. ^ a b "Bess Wohl". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  20. ^ "Exclusive | Stars flock to playwright Bess Wohl's 'Liberation'". Page Six. 2025-03-28. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  21. ^ "Recent Awards & Nominations – The Old Vic Theatre". The Old Vic. Retrieved 2025-08-29.
  22. ^ Logan Culwell-Block (June 1, 2025). "Drama Desk Award Winners 2025: The Full List". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  23. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (May 12, 2025). "Maybe Happy Ending Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  24. ^ "Photos: 2025 Drama League Awards (Winners, Nicole Scherzinger, Sam Pinkleton & More)". Playbill. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
  25. ^ Hipes, Patrick (April 20, 2026). "Daniel Radcliffe, Luke Evans Among Drama League Award Nominees". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
  26. ^ "See who's nominated for the 2026 Tony Awards". NPR. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  27. ^ Hall, Margaret (May 4, 2026). "Liberation Wins the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  28. ^ Times, The New York (May 4, 2026). "Pulitzer Prizes: 2026 Winners List" – via NYTimes.com.
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