Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
| Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best New Play |
| Location |  England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First awarded | 1976 |
| Currently held by | Prima Facie (2023) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play 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.
The award was titled Play of the Year from its establishment in 1976, and was first retitled to its current name for the 2001 Olivier Awards.
Winners and nominees[edit]
1970s[edit]
| Year | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ||
| Dear Daddy | Denis Cannan | |
| For King and Country | John Wilson | |
| Funny Peculiar | Mike Stott | |
| Old World | Aleksei Arbuzov and Ariadne Nicolaeff | |
| 1977 | ||
| The Fire that Consumes | Henry de Montherlant, Vivian Cox and Bernard Miles | |
| Cause Célèbre | Terence Rattigan | |
| Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi | Pam Gems | |
| State of Revolution | Robert Bolt | |
| 1978 | ||
| Whose Life is It Anyway? | Brian Clark | |
| Half-Life | Julian Mitchell | |
| Lark Rise | Flora Thompson and Keith Dewhurst | |
| Plenty | David Hare | |
| 1979 | ||
| Betrayal | Harold Pinter | |
| Night and Day | Tom Stoppard | |
| The Crucifer of Blood | Arthur Conan Doyle and Paul Giovanni | |
| Undiscovered Country | Arthur Schnitzler and Tom Stoppard |
1980s[edit]
1990s[edit]
2000s[edit]
2010s[edit]
2020s[edit]
| Year | Play | Writer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | |||
| Leopoldstadt | Tom Stoppard | ||
| A Very Expensive Poison | Lucy Prebble | ||
| The Doctor | Robert Icke | ||
| The Ocean at the End of the Lane | Joel Horwood | ||
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic[A] | ||
| 2022[A] | |||
| Life of Pi | Lolita Chakrabarti | ||
| 2:22 A Ghost Story | Danny Robins | ||
| Best of Enemies | James Graham | ||
| Cruise | Jack Holden | ||
| 2023[4] | |||
| Prima Facie | Suzie Miller | ||
| For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy | Ryan Calais Cameron | ||
| Patriots | Peter Morgan | ||
| To Kill A Mockingbird | Aaron Sorkin | ||
- ^ a b Due to late March 2020[1] to late July 2021[2] 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.[3]
Multiple awards and nominations for Best New Play[edit]
Awards[edit]
- Two awards
Nominations[edit]
- Seven nominations
- Three nominations
- Two nominations
- Jez Butterworth
- David Edgar
- Michael Frayn
- Brian Friel
- Pam Gems
- Ronald Harwood
- Terry Johnson
- Julian Mitchell
- Frank McGuinness
- Simon Stephens
See also[edit]
- Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play
- Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play
- Tony Award for Best Play
References[edit]
- ^ 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) - ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Olivier awards 2023: full list of winners". The Guardian. 2023-04-02. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- London Theatre Guide (2008). "The Laurence Olivier Awards: Full List of Winners, 1976-2008" (.PDF). 1976-2008. The Society of London Theatre. p. 20. Retrieved 2008-08-30.