The Olivier Awards were a reminder of UK theatre’s great power – but also of how much is in peril

In the summer of 2019, I was sat on the front row on the opening night for a world premiere musical at the New Diorama Theatre. Penned by a new company formed from members of fringe legends Kill the Beast alongside a cabaret composer, Felix Hagan, it was an entirely unknown entity, based on a madcap tale about a corpse being used to trick Nazi forces during the Second World War. Half way through act one, many tears were shed in the 80-seat space when one of the cast, agent-less and making his stage debut, peformed a five-minute ballad about lost love during adversity. The show was, of course, Operation Mincemeat, and that performer was Jak Malone – both won Olivier Awards last night at the Royal Albert Hall.

In the autumn of 2020, in the deepest darkest lockdown, I headed over to the Union Theatre to watch the company of the Hope Mill Theatre’s Manchester revival of Rent in rehearsals. Sporting masks and performing against the odds, the cast included an actor making his professional debut, being interviewed in the midst of a pandemic and waxing lyrical about finally coming to the stage. Slightly nervous about being filmed on camera (ironic, really), I assured him that we could do as many takes as we needed. The actor was Tom Francis, who has now bagged his first Olivier Award last night for Sunset Boulevard, delivered an incredible solo performance around the Royal Albert Hall and will soon be lighting up Broadway.

Kill the Beast’s company cut their teeth at the Edinburgh Fringe (now priced out for so many) and at the VAULT Festival (now ended). Operation Mincemeat’s early development  was aided by grassroots schemes –  schemes that could disappear with local funding cuts across the UK. Tom Francis made his professional debut at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester – a venue warning that it may face existential threats due to funding concerns.

The pattern was the same across last night’s Olivier Awards (and these were two examples of many). UK theatre’s global success does not originate in huge venues like the Royal Albert Hall or at organisations like the National Theatre. It starts in locations like the Union rehearsal space, or the Hope Mill Theatre, or the New Diorama. If these spaces start to disappear, so too will the prowess of our performing arts. Beyond that, establish producers will not be keen to take risks and support rising star companies if they don’t have the financial security to do so.

Kudos, therefore, to the Oliviers’ organisers, Society of London Theatre, and their CEOs Claire Walker and Hannah Essex, who brought a number of senior politicians to the Royal Albert Hall to witness last night’s awards. Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer and former Culture Minister, sat and watched as time and again the case was made by those standing up on stages and giving speeches: the arts are a mighty force that, without sustained support, could slip away and become the exclusive, unadventurous reserve of a cosied elite.

Hopefully the politicians in the audience, both currently in power or almost inevitably soon to be in power, took note.