Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director

Last updated
Sir Peter Hall
Award for Best Director
Awarded forBest Director
LocationFlag of England.svg  England
Presented by Society of London Theatre
First awarded 1976
Currently held by Jamie Lloyd for Sunset Boulevard (2024)
Website officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/ OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.

Contents

Introduced in 1976 as the award for Best Director, it was renamed in 2018 in honor of acclaimed theatre director Sir Peter Hall, beginning with the 2019 award ceremony. [1]

In 1991, the category was briefly retired and divided into the categories Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical. These two categories were in turn retired in 1995, and the Best Director award was reinstated.

Robert Icke became the Best Director award's youngest ever winner in 2016; Deborah Warner, the 1988 recipient, had previously been the youngest winner.

Only five women have ever won the award: Deborah Warner, Marianne Elliott, Lyndsey Turner, Miranda Cromwell, and Rebecca Frecknall.

Winners and nominees

1970s

YearDirectorProduction
1976
Jonathan Miller Three Sisters
Alan Ayckbourn Confusions , Shakespeare's People and Yahoo
Buzz Goodbody Occupations and King Lear
Terry Hands Old World and Henry IV(parts 1 and 2 and Henry V )
1977
Clifford Williams Wild Oats
Michael Blakemore Privates on Parade
Bernard Miles The Fire that Consumes
Trevor Nunn Macbeth
1978
Terry Hands Henry VI
Bill Bryden and Sebastian Graham-Jones Lark Rise
Christopher Morahan The Philanderer
Harold Prince Evita
1979
Michael Bogdanov The Taming of the Shrew
Michael Elliott The Family Reunion
Trevor Nunn Once in a Lifetime
Michael Rudman Death of a Salesman

1980s

YearDirectorProduction
1980
Trevor Nunn and John Caird The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
John Barton The Greeks
Peter Hall Amadeus
John Dexter Life of Galileo
1981
Peter Wood On the Razzle
Donald McWhinnie Translations
Trevor Nunn Cats
Harold Pinter Quartermaine's Terms
1982
Richard Eyre Guys and Dolls
Michael Bogdanov Uncle Vanya
Adrian Noble A Doll's House
James Roose-Evans 84, Charing Cross Road
1983
Terry Hands Cyrano de Bergerac
Bill Bryden A Midsummer Night's Dream
Barry Kyle The Taming of the Shrew
Peter Wood The Rivals
1984
Christopher Morahan Wild Honey
John Barton Life's a Dream
Michael Blakemore Benefactors
Adrian Noble The Comedy of Errors
1985
Bill Bryden The Mysteries
Bill Alexander Richard III
Garry Hines The Playboy of the Western World
Barry Kyle Golden Girls and Love's Labour's Lost
1986
Bill Alexander The Merry Wives of Windsor
Howard Davies Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Declan Donnellan A Midsummer Night's Dream
Peter Wood The American Clock
1987
Declan Donnellan Le Cid , Twelfth Night and Macbeth
Alan Ayckbourn A View from the Bridge
Yukio Ninagawa Macbeth and Medea
Peter Stein The Hairy Ape
1988
Deborah Warner Titus Andronicus
Howard Davies Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , The Secret Rapture and The Shaughraun
Max Stafford-Clark The Recruiting Officer and Our Country's Good
David Thacker A Touch of the Poet and An Enemy of the People
1989/90
Michael Bogdanov Wars of the Roses
Richard Eyre Racing Demon and The Voysey Inheritance
Nicholas Hytner Ghetto and Miss Saigon
Trevor Nunn Othello

1990s

YearDirectorProduction
1996
Sam Mendes Company and The Glass Menagerie
Richard Eyre Skylight and La Grande Magia
Adrian Noble A Midsummer Night's Dream
Matthew Warchus Volpone and Henry V
1997
Des McAnuff Tommy
Richard Eyre John Gabriel Borkman
Anthony Page A Doll's House
Matthew Warchus 'Art'
1998
Richard Eyre King Lear
Walter Bobbie Chicago
Sam Mendes Othello
Matthew Warchus Hamlet
1999
Howard Davies The Iceman Cometh
Sam Mendes The Blue Room
Trevor Nunn Oklahoma!
Ian Rickson The Weir

2000s

YearDirectorProduction
2000
Trevor Nunn Summerfolk , The Merchant of Venice and Troilus and Cressida
David Levaux The Real Thing
Jeremy Sams Spend Spend Spend
Julie Taymor The Lion King
2001
Howard Davies All My Sons
Michael Grandage Passion Play
Nicholas Hytner Orpheus Descending
Trevor Nunn The Cherry Orchard
Ian Talbot The Pirates of Penzance
2002
Michael Boyd Henry VI and Richard III
Michael Blakemore Kiss Me, Kate
Howard Davies Private Lives
Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch Shockheaded Peter
Ian Rickson Mouth to Mouth
2003
Sam Mendes Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya
Matthew Bourne Play Without Words
Richard Eyre Vincent in Brixton
Edward Hall Rose Rage
2004
Michael Grandage Caligula
Stafford Arima Ragtime
Gary Griffin Pacific Overtures
Stewart Lee Jerry Springer
2005
Nicholas Hytner The History Boys
Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne Mary Poppins
Rufus Norris Festen
Susan Stroman The Producers
2006
Richard Eyre Hedda Gabler
Stephen Daldry Billy Elliot
Michael Grandage Don Carlos
Phyllida Lloyd Mary Stuart
Melly Still Coram Boy
2007
Dominic Cooke The Crucible
Sam Buntrock Sunday in the Park with George
Joe Mantello Wicked
2008
Rupert Goold Macbeth
Rob Ashford Parade
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris War Horse
Jack O'Brien Hairspray
2009
John Tiffany Black Watch
Terry Johnson La Cage aux Folles
Des McAnuff Jersey Boys
Emma Rice Brief Encounter

2010s

YearDirectorProduction
2010
Rupert Goold ENRON
Michael Grandage Hamlet
Lindsay Posner A View from the Bridge
Ian Rickson Jerusalem
Bijan Sheibani Our Class
2011
Howard Davies The White Guard
Dominic Cooke Clybourne Park
Michael Grandage King Lear
Thea Sharrock After the Dance
2012
Matthew Warchus Matilda
Sean Foley The Ladykillers
Nicholas Hytner One Man, Two Guvnors
Rufus Norris London Road
2013
Marianne Elliott The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Jeremy Herrin This House
Simon McBurney The Master and Margarita
Stephen Daldry The Audience
2014
Lyndsey Turner Chimerica
Richard Eyre Ghosts
Maria Friedman Merrily We Roll Along
Susan Stroman The Scottsboro Boys
2015
Ivo van Hove A View from the Bridge
Rupert Goold King Charles III
Jeremy Herrin Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies
Josie Rourke City of Angels
2016
Robert Icke Oresteia
Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh The Winter's Tale
Matthew Dunster Hangmen
Jonathan Kent Gypsy
2017
John Tiffany Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Simon Stone Yerma
John Tiffany The Glass Menagerie
Matthew Warchus Groundhog Day
2018
Sam Mendes The Ferryman
Dominic Cooke Follies
Marianne Elliott Angels in America
Rupert Goold Ink
Thomas Kail Hamilton
2019
Stephen Daldry The Inheritance
Christopher Ashley Come from Away
Marianne Elliott Company
Rebecca Frecknall Summer and Smoke
Sam Mendes The Lehman Trilogy

2020s

YearDirectorProduction
2020
Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell Death of a Salesman
Jamie Lloyd Cyrano de Bergerac
Trevor Nunn Fiddler on the Roof
Ian Rickson Uncle Vanya
2021Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic [upper-alpha 1]
2022 [upper-alpha 1]
Rebecca Frecknall Cabaret
Michael Longhurst Constellations
Kathleen Marshall Anything Goes
Max Webster Life of Pi
2023
Phelim McDermott My Neighbour Totoro
Rebecca Frecknall A Streetcar Named Desire
Robert Hastie Standing at the Sky's Edge
Justin Martin Prima Facie
Bartlett Sher To Kill A Mockingbird
2024
Jamie Lloyd Sunset Boulevard
Stephen Daldry & Justin Martin Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Rupert Goold Dear England
Sam Mendes The Motive and the Cue
  1. 1 2 Due to late March 2020 [2] to late July 2021 [3] closing of London theatre productions during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2022 awards recognise productions that launched anytime from February 2020 to February 2022 [4]

Multiple awards and nominations

Note: This list of multiple awards and nominations includes individuals awarded and nominated for the Best Director award (1976–1990, 1996–present), as well as the short-lived (1991–1995) more granular pair of awards for Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical.

Awards

Three awards
Two awards

Nominations

Eleven nominations
Ten nominations
Six nominations
Five nominations
Four nominations
Three nominations
Two nominations

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Mitchell, Robert (2018-04-10). "Olivier Awards Rename Prize After Peter Hall Following 'In Memoriam' Blunder". Variety . Archived from the original on 2022-04-21. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  2. ↑ Johnson, The Rt Hon Boris, MP (2020-03-23). Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 23 March 2020 [transcript] (Speech). Prime Minister's Televised Speech to the United Kingdom. www.gov.uk. London, UK. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2022-04-25. From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction — you must stay at home.{{cite speech}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ McPhee, Ryan (2021-06-14). "U.K. Postpones Reopening Roadmap; West End Theatres Will No Longer Reopen in Full in June". Playbill . Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-04-25. Step 4 of the roadmap will allow productions to play without capacity restrictions. June 21 was the goal; now, the government is eyeing July 19.
  4. ↑ Thomas, Sophie (2022-03-08). "Everything you need to know about the Olivier Awards". londontheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-25. Any new production that opened between 19 Feb. 2020 to 22 Feb. 2022 are eligible for categories in the 2022 Olivier Awards. With two years worth of shows set for honours in one year's ceremony, the 2022 Olivier Awards will prove tougher competition than before.
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