The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow has been named Great British Theatre 2026 at the first Great British Theatres Awards, presented at Central Hall Westminster on Monday night, and Julie Hesmondhalgh went home with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
WhatsOnStage reports that the Gorbals playhouse collected two prizes in the course of the evening. Its renovation, which kept the Victorian auditorium intact while adding new public areas, creative facilities and much better access, first won the Great Renovation category, and the judges then chose it from among the category winners for the overall title.
The awards were created by Theatres Trust to mark its 50th anniversary, and they reward buildings, organisations and individuals rather than shows or performances. Nearly 200 nominations came in from across the UK, and Marisha Wallace hosted the ceremony. We set out who was presenting on the night last week.
Three of the prizes came to London. @sohoplace, the first purpose-built West End theatre in 50 years when it opened in 2022, won Great New Build for its design, its accessibility and its environmental credentials. Polka Theatre, the children's theatre in Wimbledon, shared Great Community Connection with Eden Court in Inverness, and the National Theatre's Natural Dye and Wellbeing Garden was named Great Use of Space.
The winners in full:
- Great British Theatre 2026: Citizens Theatre, Glasgow
- Great Renovation: Citizens Theatre, Glasgow
- Great New Build: @sohoplace, London
- Great Amateur Theatre: Sherborne Studio Theatre, Dorset
- Great Found Space: Claybody Theatre's Dipping House, Stoke-on-Trent
- Great Community Connection (shared): Eden Court, Inverness, and Polka Theatre, London
- Great Use of Space: the National Theatre's Natural Dye and Wellbeing Garden
- Great Placemaking Partner: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Great Green Theatre: Chichester Festival Theatre
- Great Public Space: Storyhouse, Chester
- Great British Theatres Shining Star (shared): Leith Theatre Trust, and Daniel Shrimpton, chair of the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York
- Great British Theatres Lifetime Achievement Award: Julie Hesmondhalgh
Hesmondhalgh's award, handed to her by James Graham, recognises her work on behalf of regional and community venues, including the campaigns around Oldham Coliseum and the Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre and Theatre. Knowsley council's Placemaking prize is for its part in bringing Shakespeare North Playhouse to Prescot.
For a first edition, the list is most striking for how far it travels. Only three of the prizes went to London venues; the rest were spread from Inverness and Leith down to Dorset, by way of Chester, Chichester, Stoke-on-Trent, Merseyside and York.
