The Olivier Awards 2026 with Cunard was held on Sunday 12 April and celebrated the best of London theatre. If you missed the ceremony, you can watch it now on BBC iPlayer, including winners speeches and performances.
Paddington The Musical, was the big winner of the night with seven awards including the coveted award for Cunard Best New Musical, alongside awards for Best Actor in a Musical and Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical.
Bridge Theatre’s Into The Woods won Best Musical Revival Award. The Sondheim show, which asks what happens after happily ever after, also won the Best Lighting Design Award. After their performance of Giants In The Sky the musical was announced to be transferring to the West End later this year. You can use our Theatre Tokens to book online to see it at the Bridge Theatre until May or book to see it at the Noel Coward theatre from September.
The night doesn’t just celebrate musicals. The darkly irreverent Oh, Mary! won the Noël Coward Award for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play. The show’s writer and Broadway lead, Cole Escola, picked up the award alongside Mason Alexander Park who currently plays Mary. Catherine Tate will take over the lead role from 27 April.
Rosamund Pike, the star of Saltburn and Gone Girl, won the Best Actress Award for her leading performance in Inter Alia, the legal drama written by Prima Facie writer Suzie Miller. The production, which was originally staged at the National Theatre, has just transferred to the West End for a limited run until 20 June.
It was a night for anniversaries, as the ceremony celebrated the 50th anniversary of the awards which recognise the best of London theatre. The show was opened by Phantom Of The Opera, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Their performance began with Masquerade, performed on the steps outside the Royal Albert Hall, followed by the musical’s composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, playing the show’s title theme on the Albert Hall’s Grand Organ, nicknamed the Voice of Jupiter.
A number of shows won two awards. Jamie Lloyd’s Evita won the Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer, while Rachel Zegler, who stunned the crowd with her rendition of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, won Best Actress in a Musical.
Ivo Van Hove’s All My Sons won Best Revival, with Paapa Essiedu winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Punch, the hard-hitting play from James Graham which opened in the West End and on Broadway at the same time, won Best New Play (Graham’s second in three years after Dear England). Punch star Julie Hesmondhalgh won Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Kenrex actor Jack Holden won the Best Actor Award, having already picked up Best Performance in a Play for the same role at last year’s UK Theatre Awards. The show also won Best Sound Design.
You can watch the programme in full BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds, including performances from award winners Evita, Into The Woods & Paddington The Musical, nominees Shucked, The Producers & The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and the anniversary performances of Phantom Of The Opera & Wicked.
A number of Olivier Award winners from previous years are heading out on tour across the UK in 2026, including Back To The Future The Musical, Operation Mincemeat, Cats and more. Find out if they’re coming to a venue near you and when over on our Olivier Award winners touring category page.
