Adrian Lester, Julianne Pundan and Gloria Obianyo took the acting prizes at the 2026 UK Theatre Awards, where Theatr Clwyd left with two wins and Jodie Comer collected the first Outstanding Achievement in British Theatre Award.
The UK Theatre Awards have spent more than 30 years recognising work made across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the 2026 results, announced on Monday 12 October at a ceremony at 8 Northumberland Avenue hosted by La Voix, made a particularly strong case for Wales. Theatr Clwyd was the most successful venue of the evening: it was named UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre, sponsored by Encore, and also took Excellence in Touring, sponsored by Theatre Tokens, for its Under Milk Wood.
A second Welsh success came in Best Play Revival, which went to Our Town, co-produced by the Rose Theatre and Michael Sheen’s Welsh National Theatre. Best New Play, sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance, was won by The Last Stand of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse, from Nottingham Playhouse with Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Kate Pakenham Productions, and Birmingham Rep’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was named Best Musical Production, sponsored by Tysers Live. The Citizens Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast completed the production awards as Best Show for Children & Young People.
The performance awards divided between two classics and a musical. Adrian Lester won Best Performance in a Play for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Cyrano de Bergerac, and Julianne Pundan took Best Performance in a Musical for Miss Saigon, the Cameron Mackintosh production presented in association with Michael Harrison, which is bound for the Prince Edward Theatre. Best Supporting Performance, open to plays and musicals alike, went to Gloria Obianyo for As You Like It, part of the Ralph Fiennes season at Theatre Royal Bath. Obianyo has also been cast in Trevor Nunn’s production of Speculations at the Marylebone Theatre.
Among the creative prizes, Tom Littler was named Best Director for Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing, a Guildford Shakespeare Company and Orange Tree Theatre co-production, while Ceci Calf won Best Design for the set and costumes of The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, a Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse production. Yorke Dance Project received Achievement in Dance for Modern Milestones, and Achievement in Opera went to English Touring Opera, recognised for the ambition and breadth of the work it takes to venues around the country.
The off-stage categories spread the honours further. Buxton Opera House won Excellence in Arts Education for Connecting For Creativity, The Theatre Chipping Norton took Excellence in Inclusivity, the Mercury Theatre won Excellence in Sustainability, and Blackpool Grand Theatre was recognised for Excellence in Workforce Culture.
The evening’s two special awards had been announced in advance. Jodie Comer became the first recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in British Theatre Award, given for her work on the UK tour of Prima Facie, as reported here when the honour was confirmed. The Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award was presented posthumously to Alan Finch CBE and collected by his family. Finch, who died this year, arrived at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2005 and led its revival as executive director alongside Jonathan Church, before joining Cameron Mackintosh Ltd in 2016, where he launched UK and international tours; he had also sat on the board of the Society of London Theatre since 2022.
Congratulating the winners and nominees, Claire Walker and Hannah Essex, co-chief executives of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, said their achievements “demonstrate the extraordinary contribution theatre makes to audiences and communities across the UK.”
The shortlists were published in September, when the nominations were covered on this site, and UK Theatre has posted the complete list of winners and nominees.
