Critics' Circle Theatre Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in theatre-making
Venue	National Theatre
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	The Critics' Circle
Hosted by	Mark Lawson (2025)
First award	1982
Website	criticscircle.org.uk/awards/
The 2025 ceremony was held at the National Theatre
Related	International Association of Theatre Critics

The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, known as the Drama Theatre Awards until 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements.^[1] The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, are selected via vote by the professional theatre critics of The Critics' Circle.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards were established by the drama section of The Critics' Circle. The Circle were initially against the idea of giving out awards due to the belief that criticisms are a matter of personal opinions, and that minority views would not be represented in a collective pronouncement in the form of an award. A referendum in 1956, voted by roughly 20% of the Circle's members, rejected the idea of the body giving out awards. This was, however, reversed in another referendum in 1980.^[7]

The first Critics' Circle Theatre Awards ceremony was held in 1989. A special anniversary ceremony was held for its 25th anniversary in 2014.^[8]

As of 2025, the Critics' Circle Theatre awards include the following categories:^[9]

• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Director
• Most Promising Playwright
• Best Designer
• The Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer: Named after critic Jack Tinker, known for his work at the Daily Mail^[10][11].
• The Michael Billington Award for Best New Play: Named after Michael Billington, known for his 50-year tenure as the Guardian's chief critic^[10][11]

• The Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance: Formerly the John and Wendy Trewin Award, after the husband and wife who were seen as leading critics in the UK; later renamed The Trewin Award to honour their son, Ion Trewin, after his passing.^[10][11][12]

• The Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical: Named after Peter Hepple, former editor of the Stage and former Honorary General Secretary of the Critics’ Circle.^[10][11]
• The Empty Space... Peter Brook Award for Innovative Venue: Named after director Peter Brook and his book, The Empty Space^[13], often seen as "the seminal text of modern theatre"^[14].

1980s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1982	Bob Hoskins	Guys and Dolls	[15]
1983	Derek Jacobi	Cyrano de Bergerac and Much Ado About Nothing	[16]
1984	Brian Cox	Rat in the Skull and Strange Interlude	[17]
	Antony Sher	Richard III
1985	Anthony Hopkins	Pravda
	Gary Oldman	The Pope's Wedding
1986	Bill Fraser	When We Are Married
	Hugh Quarshi	The Great White Hope
1987	Brian Cox	Fashion, Taming of the Shrew and Titus Andronicus
1988	Alex Jennings	Too Clever by Half
	Tom Wilkinson	An Enemy of the People
1989	Ian McKellen	Othello

1990s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1990	Michael Gambon	Man of the Moment
1991	Nigel Hawthorne	The Madness of George III
1992	Paul Eddington	No Man's Land
1993	Ian Holm	Moonlight
1994	Tom Courtenay	Moscow Stations
1995	Daniel Massey	Taking Sides
1996	David Suchet	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1997	Ian Holm	King Lear	[18]
1998	Kevin Spacey	The Iceman Cometh
1999	Henry Goodman	The Merchant of Venice

2000s

Year	Recipient	Work
2000	Michael Gambon	The Caretaker
2001	Ian McDiarmid	Faith Healer
2002	Simon Russell Beale	Uncle Vanya
2003	Michael Sheen	Caligula
2004	Richard Griffiths	The History Boys
2005	Simon Russell Beale	The Philanthropist
2006	Rufus Sewell	Rock 'n' Roll
2007	Charles Dance	Shadowlands
2008	Kenneth Branagh	Ivanov
2009	Mark Rylance	Jerusalem

2010s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2010	David Suchet	All My Sons	[19]
2011	Benedict Cumberbatch	Frankenstein	[20]
2012	Adrian Lester	Red Velvet	[21]
2013	Lenny Henry	Fences	[22]
2014	Mark Strong	A View from the Bridge	[23]
2015	Kenneth Cranham	The Father	[24]
2016	Stephen Dillane	Faith Healer	[25]
2017	Bryan Cranston	Network	[26]
2018	Kyle Soller	The Inheritance	[27]
2019	Andrew Scott	Present Laughter	[5]

2020s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2022	Ben Daniels	The Normal Heart	[28]
2023	Giles Terera	Blues for an Alabama Sky and Othello	[29]
2024	Andrew Scott	Vanya	[30]
2025	Mark Strong	Oedipus	[31]

1980s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1982	Judi Dench	The Importance of Being Earnest and A Kind of Alaska	[15]
1983	Juliet Stevenson	Measure for Measure	[16]
1984	Glenda Jackson	Strange Interlude	[17]
1985	Vanessa Redgrave	The Seagull
1986	Joan Plowright	The House of Bernarda Alba
1987	Judi Dench	Antony and Cleopatra
1988	Pauline Collins	Shirley Valentine
1989	Fiona Shaw	Electra and The Good Person of Sichuan

1990s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1990	Josette Simon	After the Fall
1991	Fiona Shaw	Hedda Gabler
1992	Eileen Atkins	The Night of the Iguana
1993	Penelope Wilton	The Deep Blue Sea
1994	Clare Higgins	The Children's Hour and Sweet Bird of Youth
1995	Claire Skinner	The Glass Menagerie
1996	Janet McTeer	A Doll's House
1997	Judi Dench	Amy's View	[18]
1998	Sinéad Cusack	Our Lady of Sligo
1999	Janie Dee	Comic Potential

2000s

Year	Recipient	Work
2000	Victoria Hamilton	As You Like It
2001	Lindsay Duncan	Mouth to Mouth and Private Lives
2002	Clare Higgins	Vincent in Brixton
2003	Eve Best	Mourning Becomes Electra
2004	Victoria Hamilton	Suddenly Last Summer
2005	Eve Best	Hedda Gabler
2006	Kathleen Turner	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2007	Anne-Marie Duff	Saint Joan
2008	Margaret Tyzack	The Chalk Garden
2009	Rachel Weisz	A Streetcar Named Desire

2010s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2010	Jenny Jules	Ruined	[19]
2011	Sheridan Smith	Flare Path	[20]
2012	Hattie Morahan	A Doll's House	[21]
2013	Lesley Manville	Ghosts	[22]
2014	Helen McCrory	Medea	[23]
2015	Denise Gough	People, Places and Things	[24]
2016	Billie Piper	Yerma	[25]
2017	Victoria Hamilton	Albion	[26]
2018	Patsy Ferran	Summer and Smoke	[27]
2019	Sharon D Clarke	Death of a Salesman	[5]
	Juliet Stevenson	The Doctor

2020s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2022	Jessie Buckley	Cabaret	[28]
2023	Patsy Ferran	A Streetcar Named Desire	[29]
2024	Sophie Okonedo	Medea	[30]
2025	Lesley Manville	Oedipus	[31]

1980s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1982	John Gunter	The Beggar's Opera and Guys and Dolls	[15]
	Grant Hicks	The Double Man and True West
1983	Voytek	Great and Small	[16]
1984	Alison Chitty	Venice Preserved	[17]
1985	William Dudley	The Critic, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mutiny, The Mysteries and The Real Inspector Hound
1986	Ezio Frigerio	The House of Bernarda Alba
	Maria Björnson	The Phantom of the Opera
1987		Follies
	Michael Taylor	Attractions
1988	Richard Hudson	The Old Vic season
1989	John Napier	Miss Saigon

1990s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1990	Mark Thompson	The Wind in the Willows
1991	Bob Crowley	Murmuring Judges
1992	Ian MacNeil	An Inspector Calls
1993		Machinal
1994	Mark Thompson	The Kitchen
1995	Robin Don	The Winter Guest
1996	Robert Innes Hopkins	The Comedy of Errors and The Weavers
1997	John Napier	Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up	[18]
1998	Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch and Graeme Gilmour	Shockheaded Peter
	Richard Hoover	Not About Nightingales
1999	Julie Taymor and Richard Hudson	The Lion King

2000s

Year	Recipient	Work
2000	Paul Brown	Coriolanus, Richard II and The Tempest
2001		Platonov
2002	William Dudley	The Coast of Utopia
2003	Bob Crowley	Mourning Becomes Electra
2004	Christopher Oram	Suddenly Last Summer
2005	Timothy Bird and David Farley	Sunday in the Park with George
2006	Punchdrunk Company	Faust
2007	Rae Smith and Handspring Puppet Company	War Horse
2008	Neil Murray	Brief Encounter
2009	Christopher Oram	Red

2010s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2010	Bunny Christie	The White Guard	[19]
2011	Mark Tildesley	Frankenstein	[20]
2012	Miriam Buether	Wild Swans	[21]
2013	Es Devlin	Chimerica	[22]
2014		The Nether	[23]
2015	Anna Fleischle	Hangmen	[24]
2016	Christine Jones	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	[25]
2017	Vicki Mortimer	Follies	[26]
2018	Bunny Christie	Company	[27]
2019	Tom Scutt	A Very Expensive Poison	[5]

2020s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2022	Tom Scutt	Cabaret	[28]
2023	Tom Pye	My Neighbour Totoro	[29]
2024	Miriam Buether and 59 Productions	Stranger Things: The First Shadow	[30]
2025	Frankie Bradshaw	Ballet Shoes and Dear Octopus	[31]

1980s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1982	James Roose-Evans	84, Charing Cross Road	[15]
1983	Terry Hands	Cyrano de Bergerac (classical)	[16]
	Giles Havergal	Men Should Weep (modern)
1984	Peter Gill	Fool for Love and Venice Preserved	[17]
1985	Bill Bryden	The Mysteries
1986	Mike Alfreds	The Cherry Orchard
1987	Declan Donnellan	Twelfth Night
1988	Peter Brook	The Mahabharata
1989	Nicholas Hytner	Ghetto and Miss Saigon

1990s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
1990	Peter Hall	The Wild Duck
	Robert Lepage	Tectonic Plates
1991	Trevor Nunn	Timon of Athens
1992	Stephen Daldry	An Inspector Calls
1993	Terry Hands	Tamburlaine the Great
1994	Sean Mathias	Design for Living and Les Parents terribles
1995	Sam Mendes	The Glass Menagerie
1996	Richard Eyre	Guys and Dolls and John Gabriel Borkman
1997		The Invention of Love and King Lear	[18]
1998	Howard Davies	Flight and The Iceman Cometh
1999	Trevor Nunn	The Merchant of Venice and Summerfolk

2000s

Year	Recipient	Work
2000	Michael Grandage	As You Like It, Merrily We Roll Along and Passion Play
2001	Robert Lepage	The Far Side of the Moon
2002	Sam Mendes	Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya
2003	Howard Davies	Mourning Becomes Electra
2004	Rufus Norris	Festen
2005	Michael Grandage	The Wild Duck
2006	John Tiffany	Black Watch
2007	Rupert Goold	Macbeth
2008	Michael Grandage	The Chalk Garden and Ivanov
2009	Rupert Goold	Enron

2010s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2010	Michael Grandage	King Lear	[19]
	Thea Sharrock	After the Dance
2011	Mike Leigh	Grief	[20]
2012	Benedict Andrews	Three Sisters	[21]
2013	Lyndsey Turner	Chimerica	[22]
2014	Ivo van Hove	A View from the Bridge	[23]
2015	Robert Icke	Oresteia	[24]
2016	John Tiffany	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	[25]
2017	Dominic Cooke	Follies	[26]
2018	Stephen Daldry	The Inheritance	[27]
2019	Jamie Lloyd	Betrayal, Cyrano de Bergerac and Evita	[5]

2020s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2022	Rebecca Frecknall	Cabaret	[28]
2023	Lynette Linton	Blues for an Alabama Sky	[29]
2024	Rupert Goold	Dear England	[30]
2025	Robert Icke	Oedipus	[31]

Known as the 'Peter Hepple Award' from 2016 onwards.

2020s

Year	Work	Ref
2022	Spring Awakening	[28]
2023	Oklahoma!	[29]
2024	Guys and Dolls	[30]
2025	Fiddler on the Roof	[31]

1980s

Year	Recipient	Writer	Ref
1982	A Kind of Alaska	Harold Pinter	[15]
1983	no award	no award	[16]
1984	One for the Road	Harold Pinter	[17]
1985	A Chorus of Disapproval	Alan Ayckbourn
1986	Road	Jim Cartwright
1987	Curtains	Stephen Bill
	Fashion	Doug Lucie
1988	The Secret Rapture	David Hare
1989	Ghetto	Joshua Sobol

1990s

Year	Recipient	Writer
1990	Racing Demon	David Hare
1991	Three Birds Alighting on a Field	Timberlake Wertenbaker
1992	Angels in America	Tony Kushner
1993	Arcadia	Tom Stoppard
1994	Dead Funny	Terry Johnson
1995	The Steward of Christendom	Sebastian Barry
1996	Blinded by the Sun	Stephen Poliakoff
1997	Closer	Patrick Marber
1998	Copenhagen	Michael Frayn
1999	Mnemonic	Simon McBurney

2000s

Year	Recipient	Writer
2000	Blue/Orange	Joe Penhall
2001	Humble Boy	Charlotte Jones
2002	The York Realist	Peter Gill
2003	Democracy	Michael Frayn
2004	The History Boys	Alan Bennett
2005	Harvest	Richard Bean
2006	Rock'n'Roll	Tom Stoppard
2007	A Disappearing Number	Simon McBurney and Complicite
2008	August: Osage County	Tracy Letts
2009	Jerusalem	Jez Butterworth

2010s

Year	Recipient	Writer	Ref
2010	Clybourne Park	Bruce Norris	[19]
2011	One Man, Two Guvnors	Richard Bean	[20]
2012	The Effect	Lucy Prebble	[21]
2013	Chimerica	Lucy Kirkwood	[22]
2014	King Charles III	Mike Bartlett	[23]
2015	Hangmen	Martin McDonagh	[24]
2016	The Flick	Annie Baker	[25]
2017	The Ferryman	Jez Butterworth	[26]
2018	The Inheritance	Matthew Lopez	[27]
2019	A Very Expensive Poison	Lucy Prebble	[5]

2020s

Year	Recipient	Writer	Ref
2022	Best of Enemies	James Graham	[28]
2023	Patriots	Peter Morgan	[29]
2024	The Motive and the Cue	Jack Thorne	[30]
2025	Giant	Mark Rosenblatt	[31]

Known as the 'John and Wendy Trewin Award' from 2000 until 2015, and 'The Trewin Award' from 2016 onwards.

2000s

Year	Recipient	Work
2000	Simon Russell Beale	Hamlet
2001	Samuel West	Hamlet
2002	Mark Rylance	Twelfth Night
2003	Greg Hicks	Coriolanus
2004	Paul Rhys	Measure for Measure
2005	Kevin Spacey	Richard II
2006	Tamsin Greig	Much Ado About Nothing
2007	Chiwetel Ejiofor	Othello
	Patrick Stewart	Macbeth
2008	Derek Jacobi	Twelfth Night
	David Tennant	Hamlet
2009	Jude Law	Hamlet

2010s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2010	Derek Jacobi	King Lear	[19]
2011	Eddie Redmayne	Richard II	[20]
2012	Simon Russell Beale	Timon of Athens	[21]
2013	Rory Kinnear	Othello	[22]
2014	Antony Sher	Henry IV	[23]
2015	Judi Dench	The Winter's Tale	[24]
2016	Glenda Jackson	King Lear	[25]
2017	Andrew Scott	Hamlet	[26]
2018	Sophie Okonedo	Antony and Cleopatra	[27]
2019	Hammed Animashaun	A Midsummer Night's Dream	[5]

2020s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2022	Cush Jumbo	Hamlet	[28]
2023	Arthur Hughes	Richard III	[29]
2024	David Tennant	Macbeth	[30]
2025	Danny Sapani	King Lear	[31]

Known as the 'Jack Tinker Award' from 1996 onwards.

1980s

Year	Recipient	Work
1989	Sam Mendes	Artistic direction at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester
	Julia Ormond	Faith, Hope and Charity

1990s

Year	Recipient	Work
1990	Sara Crow	Private Lives
1991	Lia Williams	The Revengers' Comedies
1992	Rufus Sewell	Making It Better
1993	Emma Fielding	Arcadia and The School for Wives
1994	Rachel Weisz	Design for Living
1995	Victoria Hamilton	The Master Builder and Retreat
1996	James Callis	Old Wicked Songs
1997	Liza Walker	Closer
1998	Mick Gordon	Gate Theatre, London
1999	Eve Best	'Tis Pity She's a Whore

2000s

Year	Recipient	Work
2000	Chiwetel Ejiofor	Blue/Orange
2001	Lyndsey Marshal	Boston Marriage and Redundant
2002	Alison Pargeter	Damsels in Distress
2003	Lisa Dillon	Iphigenia and The Master Builder
2004	Eddie Redmayne	The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
2005	Mariah Gale	'Tis Pity She's a Whore
2006	Andrew Garfield	Citizenship and The Overwhelming
2007	Leanne Jones	Hairspray
2008	Ella Smith	Fat Pig
2009	Tom Sturridge	Punk Rock

2010s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2010	Daniel Kaluuya	Sucker Punch	[19]
2011	Blanche McIntyre	Accolade and Foxfinder	[20]
2012	Denise Gough	Desire Under the Elms and Our New Girl	[21]
2013	Kate O'Flynn	Port	[22]
2014	Patsy Ferran	Blithe Spirit and Treasure Island	[23]
2015	David Moorst	Violence and Son	[24]
2016	Anthony Boyle	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	[25]
2017	Sheila Atim	Girl From the North Country	[26]
	John McCrea	Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
2018	Chris Walley	The Lieutenant of Inishmore	[27]
2019	Sam Tutty	Dear Evan Hansen	[5]

2020s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2022	Samuel Creasy	The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage	[28]
	Stuart Thompson	Spring Awakening	[28]
2023	Lizzie Annis	The Glass Menagerie	[29]
2024	Louis McCartney	Stranger Things: The First Shadow	[30]
	Jack Wolfe	Next to Normal	[30]
2025	Francesca Amewudah-Rivers	Romeo and Juliet	[31]

1980s

Year	Recipient	Work
1989	Stephen Jeffreys	Valued Friends

1990s

Year	Recipient	Work
1990	Clare McIntyre	My Heart's a Suitcase
1991	Rona Munro	Bold Girls
1992	Philip Ridley	The Fastest Clock in the Universe
1993	Simon Donald	Theatre of Stuff
1994	Kevin Elyot	My Night With Reg
1995	Jez Butterworth	Mojo
1996	Martin McDonagh	The Beauty Queen of Leenane
1997	Conor McPherson	The Weir
1998	Rebecca Prichard	Yard Gal
1999	Charlotte Jones	Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis

2000s

Year	Recipient	Work
2000	Joanna Laurens	The Three Birds
2001	Gregory Burke	Gagarin Way
2002	Charlotte Eilenberg	The Lucky Ones
2003	Lucy Prebble	The Sugar Syndrome
2004	Rebecca Lenkiewicz	The Night Season
2005	Laura Wade	Breathing Corpses and Colder Than Here
2006	Nina Raine	Rabbit
2007	Polly Stenham	That Face
2008	Alexi Kaye Campbell	The Pride
2009	Alia Bano	Shades

2010s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2010	Anya Reiss	Spur of the Moment	[19]
2011	Tom Wells	The Kitchen Sink	[20]
2012	Lolita Chakrabarti	Red Velvet	[21]
2013	Rory Kinnear	The Herd	[22]
	Phoebe Waller-Bridge	Fleabag
2014	Barney Norris	Visitors	[23]
2015	James Fritz	Four Minutes Twelve Seconds	[24]
2016	Charlene James	Cuttin’ It	[25]
2017	Branden Jacobs-Jenkins	Gloria and An Octoroon	[26]
2018	Natasha Gordon	Nine Night	[27]
2019	Jasmine Lee-Jones	Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner	[5]

2020s

Year	Recipient	Work	Ref
2022	Igor Memic	Old Bridge	[28]
	Zadie Smith	The Wife of Willesden	[28]
2023	Tyrell Williams	Red Pitch	[29]
2024	Marcelo Dos Santos	Backstairs Billy	[30]
	Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini	Sleepova	[30]
2025	Mark Rosenblatt	Giant	[31]

Year	Recipient	Notes	Ref
1982	Robert David MacDonald and Citizens Theatre, Glasgow		[15]
1983	Market Theatre (Johannesburg) for Woza Albert!		[16]
1984	Graeae Theatre Company and The Theatre of Comedy Company		[17]
2017	David Lan	Commendation for artistic direction at the Young Vic	[26]
2018	Neil McPherson	Commendation for artistic direction at the Finborough Theatre	[27]
2019	Paule Constable	Commendation for lighting design	[5]
2022	Jermyn Street Theatre	Commendations for exceptional theatre-making during lockdown	[28]
	National Theatre
	Nica Burns
	The Old Vic
	Original Theatre Company
2023	New Diorama Theatre	Recipient of the Peter Brook Award for an innovative venue	[29]
2024	Orange Tree Theatre	Recipient of the Peter Brook Award for an innovative venue	[30]
2025	The Yard Theatre	Recipient of the Peter Brook Award for an innovative venue	[31]

• Laurence Olivier Awards
• Black British Theatre Awards
• Standard Theatre Awards
• Ian Charleson Awards
• The Offies
• WhatsOnStage Awards
• Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland
• Theatre Book Prize
• UK Theatre Awards

• The Critics' Circle Official Website
• "Theatre Awards". Albemarle-London.com. Albemarle of London. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.