Joint theatres and disabled performances celebrated at The Stage Awards 2025
The winners of the 15th annual The Stage Awards have been announced, celebrating the greatest achievements in theatre across the UK.
The Stage was established in 1880 as an industry magazine for the British theatre industry. Through its advertisement section, it has launched the careers of numerous British playwrights and actors, including kitchen sink realist playwright John Osborne, Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter, and actors like Idris Elba.
In 2010, the magazine started its The Stage Awards, designed to celebrate the best achievements in the theatre industry across the country.
Unlike other high-profile UK theatre awards such as the Lawrence Olivier Awards and the Evening Standard Theatre Awards which focus on performances, The Stage Awards prioritises recognition for the work of theatres and producers behind the scenes.
In a ceremony on 20 January at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre, both the Nottingham Playhouse and London’s Orange Tree Theatre shared the Theatre of the Year award for 2025.
Following the pattern of last year’s dual winners the National Theatre and the Watermill Theatre, the Nottingham Playhouse and Orange Tree Theatre won the top gong for “their strong artistic leadership, bringing their programming A-game to 2024 with a crowd-pleasing mix of revivals and striking new plays resulting in soaring box office sales.”
Recognising the UK’s newest or newly redeveloped venues of 2024, Theatre Building of the Year went to The Well Walk Theatre. The 50-seat theatre in Hampstead, London was described as “small but perfectly formed” by judges.
The Well Walk Theatre’s owners Zina Drouche and Dylan McNeil were praised for their productions which “‘inhabiting the space where childhood meets adulthood, engaging minds of all ages”.
Michael Harrison was named Producer of the Year. His company, Michael Harrison Entertainment was behind many of the biggest West End hits of last year, including the lauded ‘Sunset Boulevard’ starring Nicole Scherzinger.
One of the most heart-warming stories of the night was Michael Patrick winning the Judges’ award. The Northern Irish actor and writer was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2023. Despite his debilitating nerve condition, Patrick adapted ‘The Tragedy of Richard III’ with director Oisin Kearney to give the Shakespearean character’s disability çağdaş relevance.
Performed from his wheelchair, the judges said of the show: “Acting performances are regularly described as brave, but there can be very few performers who have displayed the fortitude on stage that Michael did in this production. It was truly astonishing.”
The full winners of The Stage Awards 2025 were as follows:
Theatre of the Year
Joint winners: Nottingham Playhouse and Orange Tree Theatre, London
Theatre Building of the Year
The Well Walk Theatre, London
Producer of the Year
Michael Harrison Entertainment
Innovation Award
Orchard West, Dartford
Community Award
Synergy Theatre Project
International Award
Projekt Europa
Unsung Hero
Mike Elliott
Campaign of the Year
Park Theatre and Adam Blanshay Productions for Kim’s Convenience
Judges’ Award
Michael Patrick for The Tragedy of Richard III at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast
