Theatre News

Propeller, Jacobi & Matilda Win at Theatre Awards UK

The winners have been announced of this year’s Theatre Awards UK (formerly the TMA Awards), which honour “creative excellence” in work seen on stages throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A number of the awards, which were announced this afternoon (30 October) at a lunchtime ceremony at Banqueting House hosted by ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, went to touring productions, including Propeller’s stagings of Richard III and The Comedy of Errors and the Globe’s Shakespeare’s Globe On Tour initiative.

In the acting categories, Derek Jacobi’s performance as King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse won Best Performance in a Play, while Claire Price scooped the award for Best Supporting Performance for The Pride at the Sheffield Crucible.

The musical awards were both picked up by the Royal Shakespeare Company for Matilda The Musical,
which won Best Musical Production and Best Performance in a Musical for
Bertie Carvel for his turn as headmistress Miss Trunchbull.

Other winners included Mike Bartlett’s Love, Love, Love, which won Best New Play, and Michael Sheen and Bill Mitchell, who won Best Director for their epic production of The Passion for the newly formed National Theatre of Wales.

And veteran theatre director Peter Hall, former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre, was also honoured with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre.

President of the Theatrical Management Association, Rachel Tackley, said: “The Theatre Awards UK reflect a year of outstanding creativity and production excellence. British theatre is a shining light in the continuing recessionary gloom – something we can all be proud of. Congratulations to all the winners and the huge theatre community who collaborated in creating our wonderful productions.” 

The Theatre Awards UK are the first of several major awards to be handed out in the coming months, including the Evening Standard Awards, Critics’ Circle, Oliviers and our own Whatsonstage.com Awards – nominations for which open this week (1 November 2011).


The full list of Theatre Awards UK 2011 winners:

  • BEST PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY
    Derek Jacobi for KING LEAR: A Donmar Warehouse production at the Grand Opera House, Belfast and on tour

  • BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
    Claire Price for THE PRIDE: A Sheffield Theatres production at the Crucible, Sheffield

  • BEST NEW PLAY
    LOVE, LOVE, LOVE: a Theatre Royal, Plymouth and Paines Plough production at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth and on tour

  • BEST SHOW FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
    WHITE: a Catherine Wheels production on tour

  • BEST MUSICAL PRODUCTION
    MATILDA THE MUSICAL directed by Matthew Warchus: an RSC production at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

  • BEST TOURING PRODUCTION
    RICHARD III and THE COMEDY OF ERRORS directed by Edward Hall: both Propeller productions, on tour

  • BEST DESIGN
    HAPPY DAYS designed by Lizzie Clachan, lighting design by Natasha Chivers: A Sheffield Theatres production at Sheffield Studio

  • BEST DIRECTOR
    Michael Sheen and Bill Mitchell for THE PASSION a National Theatre Wales/Wild Works co-production

  • BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL
    Bertie Carvel for MATILDA at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

  • OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE
    New Adventures for Matthew Bourne’s CINDERELLA

  • OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA
    MUSIC THEATRE WALES for its production of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek

  • RENEE STEPHAM AWARD FOR BEST PRESENTATION OF TOURING THEATRE
    Shakespeare’s Globe

  • ACHIEVEMENT IN MARKETING
    Lyric Hammersmith

  • MOST WELCOMING THEATRE
    Theatre Royal Stratford East

  • PROMOTION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY
    Lyric Theatre, Belfast

  • THEATRE EMPLOYEE/MANAGER OF THE YEAR

    John Titcombe of Salisbury Playhouse

  • THEATRE EMPLOYEE/MANAGER OF THE YEAR
    Nick Jones of New Vic Theatre

  • THE STAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO BRITISH THEATRE
    Sir Peter Hall