Samuel D. Hunter’s “Little Bear Ridge Road” Earns Tony Nomination

Broadway Play by University of Iowa Alumnus Samuel D. Hunter Nominated for Tony Award

Renowned playwright Samuel D. Hunter, an alumnus of the University of Iowa, has made a notable entrance into the Broadway scene with his play, Little Bear Ridge Road, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Play. This prestigious nod follows the play’s recent triumph at the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, where it won Best Play.

Starring acclaimed actors Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock, Little Bear Ridge Road has been described by Tony judges as “bitingly funny and quietly explosive.” The play offers a “sharply etched portrait of two people reaching across emotional galaxies,” delving into themes of connection amid the vastness of the human experience. The judges praised it as “a piercing and profound new play” where love remains the tether to Earth.

Samuel D. Hunter, who graduated from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop in 2007, is a celebrated figure in American theater. His accolades include an Obie Award for playwriting (2011), the Drama Desk Award (2013), and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play (2013). In 2014, Hunter was honored with the MacArthur Genius Grant. His 2012 play, The Whale, adapted into a feature film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink, received multiple award nominations and wins, including two Oscars. Hunter also wrote the screenplay for the film, released in 2022.

Art Borreca, an associate professor and co-head of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, expressed excitement over Hunter’s nomination, highlighting the success of another alumnus, David Adjmi, whose play Stereophonic won Best Play at the 2024 Tony Awards. “Sam’s play is really wonderful,” Borreca remarked, emphasizing the challenge of producing a nonmusical play on Broadway.

Borreca noted that the Iowa Playwrights Workshop emphasizes the development of unique voices in playwrights. “One thing I often hear is that our program is particularly strong in nurturing individual voices,” he explained. “I’ve had literary managers tell me they can sometimes read a play from a recent graduate and identify the program it came from, but with ours, there’s a wider range of styles and subject matter.”

Reflecting on Hunter’s time at Iowa, Borreca shared that his plays often explore the connections between ordinary people or estranged characters who rediscover each other, much like in Little Bear Ridge Road.

The competition for the Best Play Tony Award includes The Balusters by David Lindsay-Abaire, Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, and Liberation by Bess Wohl. The winners of the 2026 Tony Awards, which celebrate excellence in Broadway theater, will be revealed on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. See the full list of Tony Award nominations.