The winners were announced in a ceremony at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
The winners for this year’s The Stage Awards have been announced in a ceremony which took place in front of an audience from every aspect of the theatre industry, right at the heart of the West End.
This year’s awards were hosted by Isobel Thom and Elan Davies, co-recipients of The Stage Debut Award 2023 for best performer in a play, with the ceremony also featuring a performance from the award-winning actor Jessica Lee, winner of best performer in a musical at The Stage Debut Awards 2023 for her performance in Miss Saigon at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. She performed ‘Borrowed Time’ from her run playing Misa Amane in the English-language premiere of Frank Wildhorn’s musical adaptation of Death Note: The Musical.
Now into its 14th year, this year’s ceremony included a new addition to the awards a Judges’ Award, presented to theatre company Chickenshed, in celebration of 50 years of excellence.
Meanwhile, the Theatre of the Year Award was presented to two theatre’s in celebration of their achievements in the last twelve months The National Theatre in London and the Watermill Theatre in Newbury.
This year’s Fringe Theatre of the Year Award was presented to Little Angel Theatre acknowledging its contribution to the theatre ecology through its championing of puppetry and children’s theatr, while the Theatre Building of the Year award went to the Roundhouse Works, which offers young creatives affordable membership and financial assistance .
Culture Collective was this year’s recipients of the Community Project of the Year. It is a project which uses pandemic recovery funds to support 26 organisations – ranging from tiny community hubs to regularly funded organisations across Scotland.
Producer of the Year went to Ellie Keel Productions, a company which champions accessibility within the industry and the nurturing of new talent through the Women’s Prize for Playwriting which now in its third year.
The Battersea Arts Centre was recognised winning the International Award in acknowledgement for the theatre’s ambitious programming over the last year. Meanwhile, Parade-Fest and Artists on the Frontline’s With Fire and Rage received the award for Digital Project of the Year.
This year’s Innovation Award was presented to ZU-UK’s Within Touching Distance, a collaboration between mental-health patients, health professionals, researchers and community organisations.
The Unsung Hero Award has been awarded to Janet Bakose from the Chichester Festival Theatre. She is the theatre’s longest-serving staff member of an incredible 45 years. Janet first joined the theatre in 1978 as a deputy box-office manager. Since taking over the programming responsibilities for the winter months in 2004, she has brought in over 600 productions, performances and concerts.
Talking about the news, The Stage editor Alistair Smith, said: “My fellow judges and I would like to congratulate all our winners. It’s always a real pleasure to judge these awards, which reveal just what an extraordinary range of superb theatre is being created by all types of companies all across the UK.They also underline how much is achieved by theatremakers despite dwindling public funding. Imagine what they could do with more generous support from central and local government.”