The list of nominees have been announced for this year’s UK Theatre Awards, the only nationwide awards to honour and celebrate outstanding achievements in theatre throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Nominations for Best New Play are The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver, Black Men Walking by Testament, Gut by Frances Poet, and Home, I’m Darling by Laura Wade
- The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Theatr Clwyd), Miss Littlewood (Royal Shakespeare Company), Pieces of String (Mercury Theatre Colchester/TBO) and Summer Holiday (Octagon Theatre, Bolton) nominated for Best Musical Production
- All-female Best Director shortlist for the first time: Sarah Frankcom for Our Town, Emma Jordan for Lovers: Winners and Losers and Kimberley Sykes for Dido, Queen of Carthage
- Six nominations for Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, including Best New Play and Best Performance in a Play (The Almighty Sometimes), and Best Director (Our Town)
- Birmingham Repertory Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland and Northern Ballet nominated for Promotion of Diversity award
The full list of nominations is available here.
The Awards will be presented on Sunday 14 October at a lunchtime ceremony at London’s Guildhall.
Julian Bird, Chief Executive of UK Theatre, said:
‘It’s been a fascinating year for theatre, with a thrilling array of performances and works presented across the UK – as well as many new initiatives to create positive change in the industry, both on- and off-stage. We look forward to celebrating those individuals and companies who have pushed boundaries, started conversations and made incredible theatre’
Since 2014, as well as awards for performance and management which are decided by expert panels, there has also been an annual £150,000 Clothworkers’ Theatre Award*, part of the Clothworkers’ Foundation’s five-year £1.25m Dramatic Arts initiative. 2018 is the final year of this award, with a total of £750,000 awarded to English regional producing theatre in the last five years. The winner this year will be from the East or South East region, and will be one of following theatres invited to compete for the award: Chichester Festival; Chipping Norton; Mercury Colchester; New Wolsey, Ipswich; Nuffield Southampton; Oxford Playhouse; Queen’s Hornchurch; Theatre Royal. Bury St Edmunds; or Watermill Newbury.
The public vote for The UK's Most Welcoming Theatre Award with Theatre Tokens will close at 12 noon on Tuesday 19 September. For more information visit UKTheatre.org/vote
The recipient of this year’s Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award will be announced soon.
*The Clothworkers’ Award can be used for anything from capital works to sponsoring a touring production. It must be used for a specific purpose and may not be added to the theatre’s general funds.
