Black British Theatre Awards 2024 – a celebration of ferocious talent and Black excellence

Events like the Black British Theatre Awards are something to be marvelled. Founded by Solange Urdang and Omar F Okai in 2018 to illuminate diversity within the UK theatre industry, the awards ceremony itself goes from strength to strength.

Held at the iconic Lyceum Theatre in London’s West End, a celebration of ferocious talent and Black excellence lit up Covent Garden for the night. The audience was treated to numbers by the casts of The Lion King (celebrating 25 years at the host venue), MJ the Musical, and Play On!, alongside very special performances by Ray Shell and Akoma Asa Performing Arts. The winners were presented with their coveted awards by an array of trailblazers who rocked the stage, names such as renowned writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch and prominent Labour Party politician Dawn Butler.

The inaugural winner for the newly introduced category “Best Child Performer (Under 16)” was Janai Bartlett for her role as a young Tina Turner in Tina at the Aldwych Theatre. She brought her mum on stage when she collected her award, and her speech had the audience weeping. In fact, the heartwarming event had us all crying with laughter, joy and the feeling of unity throughout the entire evening.

Other notable winners included Landé Belo (Best Producer for Ain’t I A Woman? at the Tower Theatre), Nancy Medina (Best Director for Choir Boy at Bristol Old Vic) and Sean Green (Best Musical Director for MJ the Musical at the Prince Edward Theatre), while some of the te performers recognised included Ebony Thomas (Best Dance Performer for Ballet Black’s The Waiting Game), Choir Boy‘s Terique Jarrett (Best Male Lead Actor in a Play), My Father’s Fable‘s Tiwa Lade (Best Female Lead Actor in a Play), Everybody’s Talking About Jamie‘s Ivano Turco (Best Male Lead Actor in a Musical) and Tina‘s Karis Anderson (Best Female Lead Actor in a Musical).

WhatsOnStage recently caught up with Turco at Musical Con, where he also revealed his favourite ETAJ presents, gifted to him by fans:

Jamie Lloyd’s production of Romeo and Juliet also saw wins for cast mates Freema Agyeman and Joshua-Alexander Williams, while Elèna Gyasi made sure Mean Girls didn’t go home empty-handed.

The Lord Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick Award went to West End Musical Productions’ co-founders Shanay Holmes and Chris Steward, while Danny Sapani was honoured with the Founders Choice Award for his performance in the Almeida Theatre production of King Lear.

Namron was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Kenneth Tharp who labelled the legend as an “inspiration” and his “good friend”, he bounced on stage to a standing ovation and reminded the audience that – after all these years – he is still the ultimate rockstar. In his speech, he detailed the catalyst moment in which he changed his name (from Norman Murray) and the landscape of Britain in the late ’60s that was not set up for Black men to succeed in dance. His meditative poise reminded us that there really is no limit to what you can achieve.

Reflecting on the night, there is an abundance of pride and beauty that surrounds this event, with every moment a cause for celebration. The Lyceum Theatre put on a spectacular show, from the red carpet to the actual ceremony itself, and the team worked tirelessly to create something that will hopefully be a staple in the theatrical calendar for many years to come.

You can read the full list of winners here.