Laurence Olivier Award
for Society of London Theatre Special Award
Awarded forSociety of London Theatre Special Award
LocationUnited Kingdom
Presented bySociety of London Theatre
First awarded1976
Currently held byDerek Jacobi and Arlene Phillips (2023)
Websiteofficiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/ Edit this at Wikidata

The Laurence Olivier Award for Society of London Theatre Special Award is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial British 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, himself a 1979 recipient of this award.

This award was introduced in 1976. In 2020, the award was expanded with additional Special Recognition Recipients, recognizing a larger number of people each year for their lifetime of contributions to commercial British theatre.

Award winners

1970s

Year Recipient
1976 Save London's Theatres Campaign
1977 Harry Loman
1978 Brian Clark
1979 Laurence Olivier

1980s

Year Recipient
1980 Ralph Richardson
1981 none presented
1982 Charles Wintour
1983 Joan Littlewood
1984 Arnold Goodman
1985 John Gielgud
1986 none presented
1987 none presented
1988 Alec Guinness
1989 entire 1989 Oliviers were merged into 1990

1990s

Year Recipient
1991 Peggy Ashcroft
1992 Ninette de Valois
1993 Kenneth MacMillan
1994 Sam Wanamaker
1995 none presented
1996 Harold Pinter
1997 Margaret Harris
1998 David Mirvish
Ed Mirvish
1999 Peter Hall

2000s

Year Recipient
2001 none presented
2002 Rupert Rhymes
2003 Sam Mendes
2004 Judi Dench
2005 Alan Bennett
2006 Ian McKellen
2007 John Tomlinson
2008 Andrew Lloyd Webber
2009 Alan Ayckbourn

2010s

Year Recipient
2010 Maggie Smith
2011 Stephen Sondheim
2012 Monica Mason
Tim Rice
2013 Michael Frayn
Gillian Lynne
2014 Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr
Michael White
2015 Sylvie Guillem
Kevin Spacey
2016 none presented
2017 Kenneth Branagh
2018 David Lan
2019 Matthew Bourne

2020s

Year Category Recipient
2020 Special Award Don Black
Ian McKellen
Special Recognition Jo Hawes
Thelma Holt
Stephen Jameson and Sarah Preece
Peter Roberts
2021 Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic[A]
2022[A] Special Award none
Special Recognition Lisa Burger
Bob King
Gloria Louis
Susie Sainsbury
Sylvia Young
2023 Special Award none
Special Recognition Derek Jacobi
Arlene Phillips
  1. ^ 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]

See also

References

  1. ^ 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)
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.

External links

Laurence Olivier Awards
Society of London Theatre Special Award
Categories