TMA Re-launch & Combine Regional Theatre Awards
The Theatrical Management Association (TMA) will relaunch their annual award ceremonies for theatre and theatre management as a single joint ceremony, renamed the Theatre Awards UK.
The new awards will be presented by president of the TMA, Rachel Tackley and produced by TMA and Society of London Theatre (SOLT) chief executive Julian Bird.
The relaunch comes shortly after Bird revamped the Olivier Awards, presented by the TMA’s sister organisation SOLT. The Oliviers returned to the theatrical surroundings of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane this year having previously been presented at dinner events at the Grosvenor House and Hilton Hotels on Park Lane.
Speaking about the re-launch, TMA president Rachel Tackley said in a press statement: “I am delighted that these important annual awards are being refreshed with a name that more accurately reflects the vital work they recognise. UK theatre is a source of immense national pride and one that is the envy of the world.”
Julian Bird added: “The re-launch of the UK’s key regional theatre awards gives us an exciting opportunity to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of theatre the length and breadth of the UK.”
Tackley has also told The Stage newspaper she hopes to see the awards ceremony held outside London in the future, and to expect a number of other changes to the format of the awards to make them “more glitzy” and “more easily recognisable to the public”.
The TMA Theatre Awards were first held in 1991 with the TMA Management Awards launched in 2005. They seek to honour creative excellence and the outstanding work seen on stages throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
