UK Theatre Awards 2023

The UK Theatre Awards 2023 took place at London’s historic Guildhall on Sunday 8 October 2023, hosted by Musical Theatre star Zoe Birkett. The awards were BSL interpreted by Omoyele Davey. Live captioning was provided by MyClearText.

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 UK Theatre Awards 2023 were 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.

Winners & Nominees

The winners of each award are highlighted in bold.

On Stage

Best Design

Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey & UTLZ for Tambo & Bones, a Theatre Royal Stratford East and Actors Touring Company co-production
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

Best Director

Garry Hynes for DruidO’Casey, a Druid Theatre production at Lyric Theatre Belfast
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

Best Musical Production Sponsored by Tysers in association with Ecclesiastical

Gypsy, a The Mill at Sonning production
The Book Thief, an Octagon Theatre Bolton production
Miss Saigon, a Sheffield Theatres production, by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh

Best New Play

Enough Of Him, a National Theatre of Scotland and Pitlochry Festival Theatre co-production
Agreement, a Lyric Theatre Belfast 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

Daniel Rigby for Accidental Death Of An Anarchist, a Sheffield Theatres and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre co-production in association with Playful Productions
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
Wiliam Young for Of Mice & Men, a Birmingham Rep, Leeds Playhouse and Fiery Angel co-production

Best Performance in a Musical

Lena Hall for In Dreams, a Leeds Playhouse production
Joanna Ampil for Miss Saigon, a Sheffield Theatres production, by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh
Rebecca Thornhill for Gypsy, a The Mill at Sonning production

Best Show for Children and Young People

The SpongeBob Musical, a Showpath Entertainment production
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

Best Supporting Performance (in a Musical or Play)

Antony Eden for Family Album, a Stephen Joseph Theatre production
Bryony Corrigan for I, Daniel Blake, a Nothern Stage, Birmingham Rep, ETT, Oldham Coliseum and tiny dragon Productions production in association with Cardboard Citizens
LJ Parkinson for Modest, a Middle Child and Milk Presents co-production

Achievement in Opera