The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in Toronto theatre.
For most of the Dora Awards' history, separate awards have been presented for best play and Best Original Musical. For part of the 1990s, however, the two awards were merged with both musicals and dialogue-based plays competing in a single category. From 1980 to 1988, only a single award was presented each year; beginning in 1988, a separate award was introduced for Outstanding New Play, Small/Independent Theatre.
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Linda Griffiths, Paul Thompson | Maggie and Pierre | [1] |
| Alun Hibbert | October's Soldiers | ||
| Tom Walmsley | Something Red | ||
| 1981 | Allan Stratton | Rexy | [2] |
| Neil Munro | Extreme Close Up | [3] | |
| Judith Thompson | The Crackwalker | ||
| George F. Walker | Theatre of the Film Noir | ||
| 1982 | John Krizanc | Tamara | [4] |
| Lawrence Jeffery | Clay | [5] | |
| Erika Ritter | The Passing Scene | ||
| Tom Walmsley | White Boys | ||
| 1983 | Patrick Brymer, Linda Griffiths | O.D. on Paradise | [6] |
| Mavis Gallant | What Is to Be Done? | ||
| Richard Rose | Censored | ||
| George F. Walker | The Art of War | ||
| 1984 | Autumn Angel Repertory | Mein | [7] |
| Jim Betts | The Mystery of the Oak Island Treasure | [8] | |
| Lawrence Jeffery | Tower | ||
| Bob Knuckle, Gordon Carruth | I Am Not a Legend | ||
| George Luscombe, Larry Cox | Names | ||
| 1985 | David French | Salt-Water Moon | [9] |
| Marie-Lynn Hammond | De beaux gestes/Beautiful Deeds | [10] | |
| Michael Hollingsworth | The History of the Village of the Small Huts: Part 1, New France | ||
| John Krizanc | Prague | ||
| George F. Walker | Criminals in Love | ||
| 1986 | Linda Griffiths, Maria Campbell | Jessica | [11] |
| Don Hannah | The Wedding Script | [12] | |
| Margaret Hollingsworth | Islands | ||
| Maristella Roca | La Storia: A Tale of Fables | ||
| Allan Stratton | Papers | ||
| 1987 | Tomson Highway | The Rez Sisters | [13] |
| René-Daniel Dubois | Being at Home with Claude | [14] | |
| Margaret Hollingsworth | War Babies | ||
| John Lazarus | Genuine Fakes | ||
| Joan MacLeod | Jewel | ||
| 1988 | George F. Walker | Nothing Sacred | [15] |
| Robert Fothergill | Detaining Mr. Trotsky | [16] | |
| Ann-Marie MacDonald | Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) | ||
| Judith Thompson | I Am Yours | ||
| Michel Tremblay | Le Vrai Monde? | ||
| 1989 | Tomson Highway | Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing | [17] |
| Sally Clark | Moo | [18] | |
| Ken Garnhum | Beuys, Buoys, Boys | ||
| Kelly Rebar | Bordertown Café | ||
| Michel Tremblay (tr. John Van Burek, Bill Glassco) | The Real World? |
Years marked with a § are those in which the awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding New Musical were merged.
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Linda Griffiths | Alien Creature | |
| Michel Tremblay (translation by Linda Gaboriau) | For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again | ||
| Florence Gibson | Belle | ||
| Morwyn Brebner | Music for Contortionist | ||
| Jean Yoon | The Yoko Ono Project | ||
| 2001 | Kristen Thomson | I, Claudia | [39] |
| Alex Bulmer | Smudge | ||
| Ronnie Burkett | Happy | ||
| Adam Pettle | Zadie's Shoes | ||
| Betty Quan | Ghost Train | ||
| 2002 | Michael Healey | Plan B | |
| Carole Fréchette, | Elisa's Skin | ||
| Daniel MacIvor | You Are Here | ||
| Alex Poch-Goldin | This Hotel | ||
| Djanet Sears | The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God | ||
| 2003 | Morris Panych | Girl in the Goldfish Bowl | |
| Chris Earle | Russell Hill | ||
| Matthew Edison | The Domino Heart | ||
| Sonja Mills | The Danish Play | ||
| Adam Pettle | Therac 25 | ||
| 2004 | Michael Hollingsworth | Confederation | |
| Trey Anthony | da kink in my hair | ||
| Marjorie Chan | China Doll | ||
| Peter Froehlich | Simpl | ||
| Michael O'Brien | Restitution: An Irish-Canadian Rhapsody | ||
| 2005 | John Mighton | Half Life | |
| Claudia Dey | Trout Stanley | ||
| Keira Loughran | Little Dragon | ||
| Rick Miller, Daniel Brooks | Bigger Than Jesus | ||
| David S. Young | No Great Mischief | ||
| 2006 | d'bi young | blood.claat - one woman story | |
| Ronnie Burkett | 10 Days on Earth | ||
| Rosa Labordé | Léo | ||
| Niki Landau | Territories | ||
| Colombe Demers, Ann-Marie Kerr, Liisa Repo-Martell | The Long Valley | ||
| 2007 | Michael Healey | Generous | |
| Damien Atkins | Lucy | [40] | |
| Michael Hollingsworth | The Saskatchewan Rebellion | ||
| Mike McPhaden | Noble Parasites | ||
| Morris Panych | What Lies Before Us | ||
| 2008 | Judith Thompson | The Palace of the End | |
| Brendan Gall | Alias Godot | ||
| Hannah Moscovitch | East of Berlin | ||
| Hannah Moscovitch | Essay | ||
| The Second City | Tazed and Confused | ||
| 2009 | Waawaate Fobister | Agokwe | |
| Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman | Scratch | [41] | |
| Kevin Loring | Where the Blood Mixes | ||
| Joan MacLeod | Another Home Invasion | ||
| Andrew Moodie | Toronto the Good |
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Michael Healey | Courageous | |
| Carmen Aguirre | Refugee Hotel | ||
| Anusree Roy | Letters to My Grandma | ||
| Erin Shields | If We Were Birds | ||
| Judith Thompson | Such Creatures | ||
| 2011 | Anusree Roy | Brothel #9 | |
| Maja Ardal | The Cure for Everything | ||
| Brendan Gall | Wide Awake Hearts | ||
| Andrew Kushnir | The Middle Place | ||
| Roland Schimmelpfennig | Peggy Pickit Sees the Face of God - The Africa Trilogy | ||
| 2012 | Pamela Mala Sinha | Crash | |
| Ins Choi | Kim's Convenience | ||
| Erin Fleck | Those Who Can't Do | ||
| Tim Supple, Hanan al-Shaykh | One Thousand and One Nights | ||
| Evan Webber | Ajax & Little Iliad | ||
| 2013 | Kristen Thomson | Someone Else | [42] |
| Melody Johnson | Miss Caledonia | ||
| Daniel MacIvor | Arigato, Tokyo | ||
| Hannah Moscovitch | Little One | ||
| Tawiah M'carthy | Obaaberima | ||
| 2014 | Vern Thiessen | Of Human Bondage | |
| Damien Atkins, Paul Dunn, Andrew Kushnir | The Gay Heritage Project | [43] | |
| Sean Dixon | A God in Need of Help | ||
| Tim Luscombe | Pig | ||
| Marcus Youssef, James Long | Winners and Losers | ||
| 2015 | Hannah Moscovitch | Infinity | |
| Michael Hollingsworth | Trudeau and Lévesque | ||
| Maria Milisavljevic | Abyss | ||
| Carolyn Smart, Nicky Guadagni | Hooked | ||
| 2016 | Kat Sandler | Mustard | |
| Anna Chatterton, Evalyn Parry, Karin Randoja | Gertrude and Alice | ||
| Fabrizio Filippo | The Summoned | ||
| Jordan Tannahill | Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom | ||
| Severn Thompson | Elle | ||
| 2017 | Nick Green | Body Politic | |
| Katherine Cullen, Britta Johnson | Stupidhead! | ||
| Diane Flacks | Unholy | ||
| Kristen Thomson | The Wedding Party | ||
| David Yee | Acquiesce | ||
| 2018 | Evalyn Parry, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory | Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools | |
| Rose Napoli | Lo (or Dear Mr. Wells) | ||
| Jivesh Parasram | Take d Milk, Nah? | ||
| Kat Sandler | Bang Bang | ||
| Emil Sher | The Boy in the Moon | ||
| 2019 | Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman | Guarded Girls | [44] |
| Yolanda Bonnell | Bug | ||
| Lisa Karen Cox, Maggie Huculak, Raha Javanfar, Amy Nostbakken, Norah Sadava, Cheyenne Scott | Now You See Her | ||
| Kate Hennig | The Virgin Trial | ||
| Hannah Moscovitch, Maev Beaty, Anne-Marie Kerr | Secret Life of a Mother |
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Anosh Irani | Buffoon | [45] |
| Ronnie Burkett | Forget Me Not | ||
| Odile Gakire Katese | The Book of Life | ||
| Natasha Adiyana Morris | The Negroes Are Congregating | ||
| Kat Sandler | Yaga | ||
| 2021 | No ceremony held due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada on theatre production in 2020. | [46] | |
| 2022 | Leanna Brodie, David Paquet | Wildfire | [47] |
| Cliff Cardinal | The Land Acknowledgement (As You Like It) | [48] | |
| Chloé Hung | Three Women of Swatow | ||
| Rosa Labordé | Light | ||
| Jordan Tannahill | Draw Me Close | ||
| 2023 | Kanika Ambrose | Our Place | [49] |
| Anosh Irani | Behind the Moon | [50] | |
| Paolo Santalucia | Prodigal | ||
| Erin Shields | Queen Goneril | ||
| Tawiah M'carthy, Brad Cook | Maanomaa, My Brother | ||
| 2024 | Michael Healey | The Master Plan | [51] |
| Seth Bockley, Jesse LaVercombe, Ahmed Moneka | King Gilgamesh and the Man of the Wild | [52] | |
| Alex Bulmer | Perceptual Archaeology (or How to Travel Blind) | ||
| Frances Koncan | Women of the Fur Trade | ||
| Nick Green | Casey and Diana | ||