SHEFFIELD THEATRES WINS PRESTIGIOUS THEATRE AWARDS HAT-TRICK
Sheffield Theatres are celebrating having been awarded, for an unprecedented third time, the prestigious title of Regional Theatre of the Year 2017 at The Stage Awards,.
The award, presented to Chief Executive Dan Bates and Artistic Director Robert Hastie earlier today, was given in recognition of the outstanding work of the theatre during the last year.
Industry judges recognised the theatre’s exciting programming which has included the commissioning of two new productions; Richard Taylor and Rachel Wagstaff’s award-winning musical Flowers for Mrs Harris and The Nap, a new comedy by Richard Bean; as well as big, classic productions of Show Boat and Annie Get Your Gun.
In his speech, at the awards ceremony at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Alistair Smith, print editor of The Stage and chair of the judging panel, congratulated Sheffield Theatres for their ‘compelling programme of work that speaks to local audiences but has the potential to attract theatregoers from across the UK.’
Praise was also given for the Theatres’ policy of making theatre accessible to young people via the Live for Five initiative, which offers audience members aged 16 – 25 years, tickets for £5 and the recently launched Ignite scheme. Ignite will give every student in the city studying drama or performing arts the opportunity to attend Crucible productions free of charge.
Sheffield Theatres’ Chief Executive Dan Bates said today: ‘We were delighted to have been nominated, but to have won the title again is quite overwhelming and tops off a fantastic twelve months. The award recognises not only the incredible achievements of our out-going Artistic Director Daniel Evans but also the initiatives introduced by our new Artistic Director Robert Hastie. I would like to thank our hard-working and committed staff as well as everyone who has worked with us and visited us in the last twelve months – every one of you has contributed to making us the proud title-holders of Regional Theatre of the Year.
Sheffield Theatres continues its commitment to compelling new work with the World Première of Dan Gillespie Sells (The Feeling) and Tom MacRae’s (Doctor Who) musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie from Wednesday 8 – Saturday 25 February at the Crucible.