”Billy Elliot”, ”Crazy for You” and ”Into the Woods” among UK Theatre Awards nominees

Nominations have been announced for the 2022 UK Theatre Awards, which recognise achievements in theatre throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This year’s shortlisted productions include the acclaimed Leicester Curve revival of Billy Elliot, which is nominated for Best Musical Production, and Crazy for You at Chichester Festival Theatre, which gets a nod for leading man Charlie Stemp.

Sheffield Theatres claims two nominations in the Best Director category – for its productions of Rock/Paper/Scissors and Typical Girls – while Leeds Playhouse claims the most nominations with five.

Winners will be announced during a ceremony hosted by Legally Blonde and Six star, Courtney Bowman on Sunday 23 October.

Best Design

● Dracula: The Untold Story – Leeds Playhouse, Design by Laura Hopkins, Projection
and Video Design by Simon Wainwright
● Into The Woods – Theatre Royal Bath, Design by Jon Bausor, Video Design by Will
Duke, Costume Design by Antony McDonald
● Life is a Dream – Edinburgh Lyceum, Design by Georgia McGuinness

Best Director

● Jessica Daniels – The Mozart Question, a Barn Theatre production in association with
Bob & Marianne for Anthology Theatre and The Everyman Theatre Cheltenham
● Robert Hastie, Anthony Lau, Elin Schofield – Rock/Paper/Scissors, The Crucible, Studio and Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
● Natalie Ibu – The White Card, a Birmingham Rep, Leeds Playhouse, Northern Stage &
Soho Theatre co-production in association with HOME Manchester
● Róisín McBrinn – Typical Girls, The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Best Musical Production

● Billy Elliot – Leicester Curve
● Now is Good – Storyhouse, Chester
● Whistle Down the Wind – The Watermill Theatre

Best New Play

● Cherry Jezebel – Liverpool Everyman
● How to Bury a Dead Mule – Lyric Theatre, Belfast
● Mugabe, My Dad & Me – a co-production by ETT, Brixton House &; York Theatre
Royal in association with Alison Holder

Best Performance in a Musical

● Charlie Stemp – Crazy for You, Chichester Festival Theatre
● Divina de Campo – Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a Leeds Playhouse and HOME
co-production
● Nicole & Kyla Fox, Emme & Eden Patrick, Sienna & Savannah Robinson – Identical, a
Nottingham Playhouse and Kenny Wax Ltd co-production

Best Performance in a Play

● Eithne Browne – Maggie May, Leeds Playhouse
● Henry Goodman – Murder on the Orient Express, Chichester Festival Theatre
● Leah St Luce – Black Love, a Paines Plough and Belgrade Theatre Coventry
production, in association with tiata fahodzi
● Giles Terera – The Meaning of Zong, a Bristol Old Vic production

Best Play Revival

● Jitney – a Headlong, Leeds Playhouse and Old Vic co-production
● The Mountaintop – a Royal Exchange Theatre Production
● Translations – an Abbey Theatre and Lyric Theatre Belfast Co-Production

Best Show for Children and Young People

● Beauty and the Beast – a New Vic Production
● Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World – Kenny Wax Family Entertainment in association with MAST Mayflower Studios
● Petula – a National Theatre Wales, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru and August012
co-production

Best Supporting Performance (in a musical or play)

● Nicola Hughes – Into The Woods, a Theatre Royal Bath Production
● Robert Jackson – Brief Encounter, a Stephen Joseph Theatre, Octagon Theatre and
Theatre By The Lake co-production
● Nishla Smith – Kes, an Octagon Theatre and Theatre By The Lake co-production

UK Theatre – Achievement in Opera

● Scottish Opera for Candide
● Glyndebourne for the Poulenc Double Bill
● Richard Mantle for the last year at Opera North, which epitomizes the work Richard has
achieved over his tenure
● Music Theatre Wales and Britten Pears Arts production of Violet at Buxton International Festival at Buxton Opera

UK Theatre – Achievement in Dance

● William Tuckett’s Then or Now for Ballet Black, exquisitely melding poetry, dance, light and sound into an intimate work that gently touches big themes of our times
● The dancers of Rambert for their ability to inhabit any choreographer’s vision, as a
company of unique, versatile, incredibly skilled performers
● Dan Daw for The Dan Daw Show, a kinky, joyful, unapologetic and vulnerable
celebration of oneself and one’s body
● Life is a Dream – Edinburgh Lyceum, design by Georgia McGuinness