UK Theatre Awards winners include Lena Hall, Daniel Rigby, SpongeBob musical and Gypsy

The 2023 UK Theatre Awards winners were announced today in a ceremony at London’s Guildhall, hosted by Musical Theatre star Zoe Birkett.

The Mill at Sonning received the Best Musical Production award for their revival of Gypsy, a musical based on the book by Arthur Laurents, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Lena Hall was honored with the Best Performance in a Musical award for her starring role in David Read West’s new musical, In Dreams, featuring the music of Roy Orbison. The production premiered at Leeds Playhouse this year. The best family show was picked up by The SpongeBob Musical, which premiered earlier this year.

Lyric Theatre Belfast had a double win. The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, a co-production between Lyric Theatre Belfast and Prime Cut, received the Best Play Revival award, while Garry Hynes won Best Director for the Druid Theatre production Druid O’Casey, a trilogy of stories written by Irish dramatist Sean O’Casey. In total, Irish theatres and production companies received four awards.

Scotland also had a successful year in theatre, winning in three categories. National Theatre of Scotland and Pitlochry Festival Theatre were recognized for Best New Play with Enough Of Him, a story about a slave who made Scottish legal history in 1778, written by playwright May Sumbwanyambe. Scotland dominated the Achievement in Dance category, with Scottish Ballet winning for their contemporary reworking of the comedic ballet Coppélia. The Excellence in Inclusivity award went to Capital Theatres, which operates three key Edinburgh venues.

Best Performance in a Play was awarded to Daniel Rigby for his role in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. The play had successful runs at Sheffield Theatres and the Lyric Hammersmith before transferring to London’s West End for a limited season at Theatre Royal Haymarket. Antony Eden won the Best Supporting Performance award (in a Musical or Play) for his role in Family Album, a Stephen Joseph Theatre production of English playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s new play.

Nottingham Playhouse was named the winner of the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Award, after being shortlisted against Curve, Leicester, and National Youth Theatre. Tara Theatre received the Digital Innovation Award, a poignant moment of the event following the sad and unexpected passing of their artistic director Abdul Shayek earlier this year.

Excellence in arts education went to the Blackpool Grand, the excellence in touring went to Northern Stage, Birmingham Rep, ETT, Oldham Coliseum, tiny dragon Productions and Cardboard Citizens, while the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre award was won by Nottingham Playhouse. The Workforce Award was won by the Ambassador Theatre Group.

Mark Gatiss was honored with this year’s award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, who spoke at the event, praised the UK Theatre Awards as an opportunity to celebrate the incredible creative and technical talent in the UK’s theatre scene. She highlighted the government’s commitment to supporting theatre through tax reliefs.

Recent amendments to the tax relief system have caused consternation amongst UK theatre organisations, with SOLT and UK Theatre warning that they create “significant concern”.