Samuel D. Hunter’s Little Bear Ridge Road was named Best Play of the 2025-2026 season by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle tonight for the Broadway staging starring Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock, directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Scott Rudin and Barry Diller. The award for Best Individual Performance went to Alden Ehrenreich for his outstanding Broadway debut in Gina Gionfriddo’s play Becky Shaw , a production of the non-profit Second Stage Theater company. And if there were any doubts that Rudin, returning to New York’s theater landscape after a prolonged hiatus following allegations of workplace bullying, has resumed his considerable place of impact on Broadway and Off Broadway, tonight’s critics’ awards might lay them to rest: In addition to Little Bear Ridge Road , the Rudin-Diller produced Death of a Salesman , headed by Metcalf and Nathan Lane and directed by Mantello, took the award for Best Ensemble Performance. (The revival’s cast also includes Christopher Abbott, Ben Ahlers, K.…