KPPL Productions' Punch took the theatre prize at the Sky Arts Awards on Tuesday night, while Nancy Farino collected The Times Breakthrough Award for her first play, Fatherland, and Birmingham's Liz Light was named Arts Hero.
The ceremony returned to the Roundhouse in London on 13 October, with Sir Grayson Perry and Rebecca Lucy Taylor, better known as Self Esteem, sharing presenting duties, and was shown on Sky Arts and Freeview. The awards are the successor to the long-running South Bank Sky Arts Awards, and every shortlist was settled by an independent jury of peers drawn from across the disciplines rather than by a single panel of specialists.
For the theatre category, the jury looked beyond a single run. KPPL Productions were recognised for Punch, James Graham's drama about one act of violence, the damage it left behind and the long, uneasy road towards forgiveness, and the citation covered both the play's move into the West End, where it played the Apollo Theatre in 2025, and the social impact work the company has carried on since. That London run has now closed, so there are no dates to book at present.
The Times Breakthrough Award, the evening's prize for new talent, went to Nancy Farino for Fatherland, a debut play in which she also performed. Previous recipients include Owen Cooper and Aigul Akhmetshina, which gives some idea of the company she now keeps.
This year the Arts Hero award was given over to those who bring on the next generation, and it went to Liz Light, founder and general manager of Stage2 Youth Theatre in Birmingham. She has spent 38 years giving the city's young people their way into theatre.
Two further stage prizes were handed out. Irish National Opera and composer Jennifer Walshe won the Opera category for MARS, a new contemporary opera, and the Dance award went to Marc Brew and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for their interdisciplinary piece An Accident / a Life. English National Ballet were among the companies performing on the night.
Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, said: "In an increasingly fragmented world, their ability to bring people together has never been more valuable. Congratulations to all our nominees and winners."
Away from the stage, the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Johnny Marr. The winners in film, television, music, comedy, visual art, poetry and literature are listed in full in Sky's announcement of the winners.
