Watch the 2017 Obie Awards in Full

For only the second time in its history, the Obie awards is streaming live on Facebook from Webster Hall. You can watch the event, which is now underway, right here or on Facebook.

When the Obie awards were conceived way back in 1955, “Off-Broadway” was code for marginal. The only stage scene that mattered in New York City was the one composed of well-funded productions in the traditional center of New York theater; nothing else much mattered.

But the Voice’s first theater critic, Jerry Tallmer, knew that the downtown scene was filled with innovative, risk-taking productions, and he thought it deserved some notice too. (Obie is a permutation of O.B., for “Off-Broadway.”) For 62 years, the Obies have sought to recognize the best work in New York’s theater community, no matter where the curtains open.

This year’s event, again hosted by Obie- and Screen Actor’s Guild–winning actor Lea DeLaria (Orange Is the New Black), comes live straight from legendary Webster Hall, presented by the Village Voice and the American Theatre Wing. Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Paula Vogel is slated to receive a special lifetime achievement award.