Hamlet and Harry Potter producer Sonia Friedman defends crown in The Stage Awards 2016
The world’s oldest and best theatre publication, The Stage, has announced the shortlist for its annual industry awards, celebrating success within the performing arts industry.
Sonia Friedman is shortlisted for Producer of the Year, the category she won in the 2015 awards, where she is up against Tooting Arts Club’s Rachel Edwards and the Edinburgh International Festival.
Shakespeare’s Globe is also back in the running for the second year in a row, shortlisted for London Theatre of the Year; it won in the International category in 2015.
The regional theatre shortlist includes Chichester Festival Theatre, the Royal and Derngate in Northampton and Manchester’s Royal Exchange, while Cardiff’s the Other Room, founded in 2014, has made its way into the running for Fringe Theatre of Year alongside London venues Camden People’s Theatre and the Orange Tree, which in 2014 was stripped of all its arts council funding.
London theatres vying for silverware include an on-form Almeida, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Barbican Theatre. Internationally, the Good Chance theatre space, based in the Calais refugee camp, is in the company of London’s Greenwich Docklands and International Festival, and the national theatres of China and Great Britain for the exchange of skills on their joint production of War Horse.
The Stage Awards, in association with Robertson Taylor W&P Longreach, are decided by The Stage’s senior editorial team, following extensive consultation with leading figures in the theatre industry.
Alistair Smith, print editor of The Stage and chair of the judging panel, said:
“As with The Stage newspaper and website, The Stage Awards represent the full breadth of the industry, from the schools training our future theatremakers to international collaborations that are trading skills across the globe.
“This year’s shortlist is particularly exciting in its scope. Where else could you see West End producer Sonia Friedman going up against the producer behind a tiny south London community arts company, or a new pub theatre in Wales vying with an experimental fringe space in Camden?
“The Stage Awards recognise innovation and success in theatre, and we’re thrilled so many of our readers took the opportunity to tell us who they thought should be nominated. We also had dozens of top-level industry practitioners put forward their own nominations and the judging panel faced some very tough choices putting together this shortlist. It’s a testament to the current quality of UK and international theatre that so many talented, driven and successful organisations did not make the cut this year.”
The Stage Awards, in association with Robertson Taylor W&P Longreach, will be announced on January 29 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.
Shortlist in full
London Theatre of the Year
Sponsored by Häagen-Dazs
Almeida Theatre
Barbican
Shakespeare’s Globe
Fringe Theatre of the Year
Sponsored by encoreinsure.com
Camden People’s Theatre, London
Orange Tree Theatre, London
The Other Room, Cardiff
Regional Theatre of the Year
Sponsored by Theatre 2016
Chichester Festival Theatre
Royal and Derngate, Northampton
Royal Exchange, Manchester
Producer Theatre of the Year
Sponsored by John Good Ltd
Edinburgh International Festival
Rachel Edwards
Sonia Friedman
International Award
Sponsored by ATG
Good Chance, Calais
Greenwich and Docklands International Festival
War Horse China
School of the Year
Sponsored by Digital Theatre Plus.com
Arts Educational Schools, London
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
University of Warwick, School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies
Theatre Building of the Year
Sponsored by ABTT and Richard Pilbrow
King’s Cross Theatre, London
NT Future, London
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
About The Stage Awards
The Stage Awards highlights the achievements by London, regional and fringe theatres as well as international achievements. Additionally there are categories for producer, theatre building and school of the year. The Stage also presents an award to an unsung hero for which there is no shortlist.
This year’s shortlist was compiled from hundreds of nominations received through the open public nomination process. In addition, for the first year ever, an industry focus group of 50 people steered the shortlist. The final cut was selected by a panel of senior editorial figures at The Stage and aims to celebrate the finest theatre achievements of the past year.
The judging panel included The Stage print editor Alistair Smith, online editor Paddy Smith, news editor Matthew Hemley, associate editor Mark Shenton and lead critic Natasha Tripney.