The nominees for the UK Theatre Awards 2026, sponsored by Encore, have been announced, celebrating the very best theatre from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The annual awards, now in their fourth decade, recognise outstanding achievements both on and off stage. Winners will be revealed at a ceremony hosted by La Voix on 12 October 2026 at 8 Northumberland Avenue in London.
Among the performance nominees, Isis Hainsworth, Adrian Lester, and Katie Redford & Benedict Salter have been shortlisted for Best Performance in a Play, while Hadley Fraser, Annette McLaughlin and Julianne Pundan compete for Best Performance in a Musical.
The Best Supporting Performance category sees nominations go to Ash Hunter, Lydia Louise and Gloria Obianyo.
In production categories, Calendar Girls The Musical, The High Life, Kiss Of The Spiderwoman and Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street are nominated for Best Musical Production, while Black Sheep, The Last Stand Of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse and The Manningtree Witches compete for Best New Play.
Elsewhere, Our Town, Road and Small Island are nominated for Best Play Revival, while Abigail Graham, Emma Jordan and Tom Littler are shortlisted for Best Director.
Nottingham Playhouse leads the nominations with four, including recognition in Best Performance in a Play, Best New Play, Best Play Revival and UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre. Theatr Clwyd follows with three nominations, including recognition for Excellence in Touring, Excellence in Sustainability and UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre.
In the dance and opera categories, nominees include National Dance Company Wales, Scottish Ballet and Yorke Dance Project for Achievement in Dance, alongside English Touring Opera, Jack Furness and Scottish Opera in the Achievement in Opera category.
Claire Walker and Hannah Essex, Co-CEOs of Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, said: “This year’s UK Theatre Awards nominations celebrate the extraordinary breadth of talent, creativity and dedication across our industry, and the vital role theatres play at the heart of communities across the UK.
“Audiences continue to flock to their local theatre in huge numbers, but as we look ahead to the Budget, we must ensure that our members have the support they need to continue reaching audiences across the country. This is why we are calling on the Chancellor for an expansion of Theatre Tax Relief to support touring costs and relief on business rates. These simple measures will enable greater access to the fantastic venues and productions that we are celebrating in these awards.
“We look forward to celebrating the very best of UK theatre on Monday 12 October. Congratulations to all the nominees, and thank you to our sponsors and partners for their support.”
The UK Theatre Awards 2026 are sponsored by Encore, with additional category support from Theatre Tokens, Tysers Live and Ecclesiastical Insurance.
More information can be found here.
Full list of nominations for the UK Theatre Awards 2026 sponsored by Encore
On Stage Awards:
Best Musical Production sponsored by Tysers Live
Calendar Girls The Musical, a Stephen Joseph Theatre, Theatre by the Lake, New Wolsey Theatre & Octagon Theatre Bolton co-production
The High Life, a National Theatre of Scotland & Dundee Rep Theatre co-production in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts and Capital Theatres
Kiss Of The Spiderwoman, a Curve, Bristol Old Vic & Mayflower Southampton co-production
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, a Birmingham Rep production
Best New Play sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance
Black Sheep, a curious directive production at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds & New Wolsey Theatre
The Last Stand Of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse, a Nottingham Playhouse, Eleanor Lloyd Productions & Kate Pakenham co-production
The Manningtree Witches, a Mercury Original in association with Frantic Assembly, supported by Eleanor Lloyd Productions
Best Play Revival
Our Town, a Welsh National Theatre & Rose Theatre co-production
Road, a Royal Exchange Theatre production
Small Island, a Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep & Nottingham Playhouse co-production in association with Actors Touring Company
Best Director
Abigail Graham for Living, a Sheffield Theatres production
Emma Jordan for The Human Voice, a Prime Cut Productions production at Lyric Theatre Belfast
Tom Littler for Love’s Labour’s Lost & Much Ado About Nothing, a Guildford Shakespeare Company & Orange Tree Theatre co-production
Best Performance in a Musical
Hadley Fraser for My Fair Lady, a Chichester Festival Theatre production
Annette McLaughlin for Follies, a Northern Ireland Opera production at Grand Opera House, Belfast
Julianne Pundan for Miss Saigon, a Cameron Mackintosh production in association with Michael Harrison
Best Performance in a Play
Isis Hainsworth for Measure For Measure, a Royal Shakespeare Company production
Adrian Lester for Cyrano De Bergerac, a Royal Shakespeare Company production
Katie Redford & Benedict Salter for Scenes From A Friendship, a Nottingham Playhouse production
Best Supporting Performance (in a Musical or Play)
Ash Hunter for The Meat Kings! (Inc.) Of Brooklyn Heights, a Papatango Theatre Company & Park Theatre co-production
Lydia Louise for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a Watermill Theatre production
Gloria Obianyo for As You Like It, a Theatre Royal Bath Productions production
Best Design
Jenny Booth (Set & Costume Design), Garry Boyle (Sound Design), Daniel Hughes (Creative Captioning) & Emma Jones (Lighting Design) for The Singer, a Dundee Rep Theatre & Solar Bear co-production in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts
Ceci Calf (Set & Costume Design) for The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher, a Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse production
Terry Parsons (Set Design) for Jack And Sarah, a The Mill at Sonning production
Best Show for Children & Young People
Beauty And The Beast, a Citizens Theatre production
No Such Thing As Wolves, a Birmingham Hippodrome production
Treasure Island, a Bristol Old Vic production
Achievement in Dance
National Dance Company Wales for Surge | Gwefr
Scottish Ballet for Mary, Queen of Scots
Yorke Dance Project for Modern Milestones
Achievement in Opera
English Touring Opera for the ambition and breadth of their programming in venues across the country
Jack Furness for his direction of The Flying Dutchman by Welsh National Opera
Scottish Opera for their commitment to championing new work through their productions of The Galloping Cure and The Great Wave
Off Stage Awards:
Excellence in Arts Education
Buxton Opera House
Curve
Polka Theatre
Excellence in Touring sponsored by Theatre Tokens
East Anglian Touring Consortium
Northern Ballet
Theatr Clwyd
Excellence in Inclusivity
National Youth Theatre
Northern Stage
The Theatre Chipping Norton
Excellence in Sustainability
Mercury Theatre
The Old Vic
Theatr Clwyd
Excellence in Workforce Culture
Blackpool Grand Theatre
Swindon Theatres
Wales Millennium Centre
UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre sponsored by Encore
Nottingham Playhouse
Theatr Clwyd
Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
