UK Theatre Awards 2023
The UK Theatre Awards 2023 will take place at London’s historic Guildhall on Sunday 8 October 2023, hosted by Musical Theatre star Zoe Birkett.
The UK Theatre Awards are the only nationwide awards to celebrate outstanding achievements in theatre across the UK. This key annual event in UK Theatre’s calendar provides excellent opportunities to meet other members, network and celebrate the past year’s successes.
The awards will be BSL interpreted by Omoyele Davey and Caroline Richardson. Live captioning will be provided by MyClearText. A hearing loop system will also be available to guests.

Tickets
If you are a UK Theatre member, please log in to access the links to book tickets.
If you are not a UK Theatre member, please get in touch for information on how to book tickets.
The ceremony will take place at London’s Guildhall on Sunday 8 October 2023, 12pm – 4pm.
Tickets to the ceremony include:
- Drinks reception with canapes in Guildhall’s Old Library
- Main course with drinks in the Great Hall
- Dessert and coffee
- Awards ceremony
Tables are of 10 people and you can specify any seating requests whilst booking. Payment will be via invoice once tickets have been requested. Upon receipt of payment, dietary and access information will be collected. Seating will be at the discretion of the awards team.
Nominations
On Stage
Best Design
- Conor Murphy for Propaganda: A New Musical, a Lyric Theatre Belfast and The Belfast Ensemble Production
- Justin Nardella (Set, Costume and Video Design) & Dan Steele (Sound Design) for iShowmanism!, a Theatre Royal Bath production
- Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey & UTLZ for Tambo & Bones, a Theatre Royal Stratford East and Actors Touring Company co-production
Best Director
- Matthew Dunster & Jimmy Fairhurst for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Shakespeare North Playhouse, Not Too Tame and Northern Stage co-production
- Omar Elerian for As You Like It, a Royal Shakespeare Company production
- Garry Hynes for DruidO’Casey, a Druid Theatre production at Lyric Theatre Belfast
Best Musical Production Sponsored by Tysers in association with Ecclesiastical
- The Book Thief, an Octagon Theatre Bolton production
- Gypsy, a The Mill at Sonning production
- Miss Saigon, a Sheffield Theatres production, by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh
Best New Play
- Agreement, a Lyric Theatre Belfast production
- Enough Of Him, a National Theatre of Scotland and Pitlochry Festival Theatre co-production
- Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play, a Royal Exchange Theatre, Factory International for Manchester International Festival, Young Vic Theatre and Headlong co-production
Best Play Revival Sponsored by Trafalgar Theatres
- The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, a Lyric Theatre Belfast and Prime Cut co-production
- The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less), a Shakespeare North Playhouse and Stephen Joseph Theatre co-production
- The Contingency Plan: On The Beach and Resilience, a Sheffield Theatres production
Best Performance in a Play
- Peter Forbes for On The Beach, part of a double bill: The Contingency Plan, a Sheffield Theatres production
- Siobhán McSweeney for Happy Days, a Landmark Productions production at Birmingham Rep
- Daniel Rigby for Accidental Death Of An Anarchist, a Sheffield Theatres and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre co-production in association with Playful Productions
- Wiliam Young for Of Mice & Men, a Birmingham Rep, Leeds Playhouse and Fiery Angel co-production
Best Performance in a Musical
- Joanna Ampil for Miss Saigon, a Sheffield Theatres production, by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh
- Lena Hall for In Dreams, a Leeds Playhouse production
- Rebecca Thornhill for Gypsy, a The Mill at Sonning production
Best Show for Children and Young People
- The Famous Five – A New Musical, a Theatr Clywd and Chichester Festival Theatre co-production
- Mirrorball, a Replay Theatre Company production at Belfast Children’s Festival, Lyric Theatre Belfast
- The SpongeBob Musical, a Showpath Entertainment production
Best Supporting Performance (in a Musical or Play)
- Bryony Corrigan for I, Daniel Blake, a Nothern Stage, Birmingham Rep, ETT, Oldham Coliseum and tiny dragon Productions production in association with Cardboard Citizens
- Antony Eden for Family Album, a Stephen Joseph Theatre production
- LJ Parkinson for Modest, a Middle Child and Milk Presents co-production
Achievement in Opera
- Glyndebourne for Dialogues Des Carmélites
- Opera North for Orpheus
- Welsh National Opera for Blaze Of Glory!
Achievement in Dance
- Jo Fong & George Orange for The Rest Of Our Lives
- Rambert for Peaky Blinders: The Redemption Of Thomas Shelby
- Scottish Ballet for Coppélia
Off Stage
Excellence in Touring
- ETT
- Northern Stage
- Nottingham Playhouse
Digital Innovation Sponsored by Spektrix
- HOME X presented by the Barbican
- Pilot Theatre
- Tara Theatre
Excellence in Inclusivity
- Capital Theatres
- Midlands Arts Centre
- Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
Excellence in Arts Education
- Birmingham Hippodrome
- Blackpool Grand Theatre
- Hackney Empire
Workforce Award
- Ambassador Theatre Group
- Grand Opera House York
- Nottingham Playhouse
UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Sponsored by Theatre Tokens
- Curve
- National Youth Theatre
- Nottingham Playhouse
Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre
Mark Gatiss is the 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award, awarded by the UK Theatre Board.
Judging Panels
The UK Theatre Awards 2023 judging panels are below:
On Stage Panels
The panels consist of regional theatre reviewers and industry professionals.
Theatre
- Angelo Ivring
- Clare Brennan
- Clive Davis
- Diane Parkes
- Dominic Cavendish
- Jane Coyle
- Mark Fisher
Dance
- Andrew Hurst
- Donald Hutera
- Lyndsey Winship
- Sanjoy Roy
Opera
- Alexandra Coghlan
- Claire Seymour
- George Hall
- John Allison
Off Stage Panel
Applications are judged by a panel made up of UK Theatre board members and freelance theatre professionals.
- Andrew Miller
- Milton Lopes
- Sita McIntosh
UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre
Applications are judged by a panel made up of Partner Members and freelance theatre professionals.
- Bea Webster-Mockett
- Natalie Amber
- Simon Geen
Support Us
The UK Theatre Awards are the only awards ceremony dedicated to celebrating the outstanding achievements of regional and national theatre outside of London.
Supporting this key event in UK Theatre’s calendar by taking advantage of our sponsorship opportunities will provide you and your organisation with excellent opportunities to meet UK Theatre members and to connect with organisations from all over the UK.
To find out more, download our Sponsorship Pack and contact Russell Morton, Awards General Manager on russell@soltukt.co.uk.
The UK Theatre Awards 2023 are sponsored by Birra Moretti, Harbottle and Lewis, Howard Park Wines, John Good Ltd, Marshfield Farm Ice Cream, Music Theatre International (MTI), Setting Line Production Management, Spektrix, Theatre Tokens, Trafalgar Theatres, Tysers in association with Ecclesiastical, Unusual Rigging and White Light.

Tickets
If you are not a UK Theatre member, please get in touch for information on how to book tickets.