Frontmezzjunkies reports: London’s Critics’ Circle Theatre Award 2026 Nominations Announced

By Ross

Every awards season brings with it a nagging, but all too-familiar mixture of excitement and longing. Still, few announcements inspire quite the same feeling of theatrical wanderlust as the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards from London, England. As a member of a critics’ organization myself, both in New York City and Toronto, I read this year’s nominations with admiration and, admittedly, a pesky touch of envy and regret. The breadth of work represented across the United Kingdom’s stages serves as a reminder of just how vast and vibrant our theatre ecosystem remains, even for those of us watching from across the Atlantic and wishing we could have filled our passports with more playbills and ticket stubs.

This year marks a historic shift for the awards, which, for the first time in their 37-year history, have released an official shortlist following a longlist voting process. According to Drama Section chair Mark Lawson, the change was intended to broaden the field of recognition, and the results suggest a remarkable range of artists, venues, and production scales. From major West End revivals to daring new writing in intimate spaces, nearly 180 candidates were considered before arriving at these final nominees. The addition of a Best Cast or Ensemble category further reflects a growing recognition that theatre’s greatest achievements often emerge from collective artistry rather than individual acclaim alone.

Reading through the nominations feels like scanning a travel itinerary one wishes had been possible. Acclaimed artists, adventurous premieres, and ambitious musical productions sit comfortably beside emerging playwrights making professional debuts. Names familiar to international audiences appear alongside discoveries many of us outside the UK are only beginning to hear about. It is precisely the kind of season that reminds critics why the job never truly ends. There is always another production, another performance, another city whose stories unfold just beyond reach.

The winners will be announced March 26 at the National Theatre, and like many critics watching from afar, I will be following closely, comparing notes with the performances and productions I was fortunate enough to see alongside the many I could only track through reviews, conversations, and reputation. One of the quiet privileges of being part of a critics’ community is recognizing how differently a season reveals itself depending on where you sit in the world. Lists like this one become more than awards speculation. They create curiosity, spark conversation, and become invitations, pointing toward stories still waiting across an ocean and offering theatre lovers everywhere a map of work worth seeking out, even if for now the journey lives more in imagination than in memory.

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Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2026 Nominees

Best New Play

David Adjmi – Stereophonic at Duke of York’s
Alice Birch – Romans: a novel at Almeida
Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian – Kenrex at the Other Palace
James Graham (from a book by Jacob Dunne) – Punch at Young Vic / Apollo
David Ireland – The Fifth Step at @sohoplace
Suzie Miller – Inter Alia at National Theatre
Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson – Kyoto at @sohoplace

Best Revival Of A Play Or Musical

All My Sons at Wyndham’s Theatre
Brigadoon at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Evita at The London Palladium
Intimate Apparel at Donmar Warehouse
Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre
Indian Ink at Hampstead Theatre
The Weir at Harold Pinter Theatre

Best New Musical

Cable Street at Southwark Playhouse
Here We Are at National Theatre
Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre
Shucked at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Sing Street at Lyric Hammersmith
Titanique at Criterion Theatre

Best Director

Daniel Aukin – tereophonic at Duke of York’s
Jordan Fein – Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre
Lynette Linton – Intimate Apparel at Donmar Warehouse
Jamie Lloyd – Evita at The London Palladium / Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Luke Sheppard – Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre
Ivo Van Hove – All My Sons at Wyndham’s Theatre

Best Ensemble Or Cast

1536 at Almeida Theatre
Here We Are at National Theatre
Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre
Stereophonic at Duke of York’s Theatre
The Weir at Harold Pinter Theatre
When We Are Married at Donmar Warehouse

Most Promising Playwright

Jamie Armitage – A Ghost In Your Ear / An Interrogation at Hampstead Theatre
Sophia Chetin-Leuner – Prn Play* at Royal Court
Hannah Doran – The Meat Kings! (Inc) of Brooklyn Heights at Park Theatre
Sophia Griffin – After Sunday at Bush Theatre
Katherine Moar – Ragdoll at Jermyn Street Theatre
Ava Pickett – 1536 at Almeida Theatre
Shaan Sahota – The Estate at National Theatre

Best Actor

Adeel Akhtar – The Estate at National Theatre
Bryan Cranston – All My Sons at Wyndham’s Theatre
Paapa Essiedu – All My Sons at Wyndham’s Theatre
Brendan Gleeson – The Weir at Harold Pinter Theatre
Sean Hayes – Goodnight, Oscar at Barbican Theatre
James Hameed and Arti Shah – Paddington the Musical at Savoy Theatre
David Shields – Punch at Young Vic / Apollo

Best Actress

Kate Fleetwood – Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre
Julie Hesmondhalgh – Punch at Young Vic / Apollo
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – All My Sons at Wyndham’s Theatre
Rosamund Pike – Inter Alia at National Theatre
Nicola Walker – The Unbelievers at Royal Court
Samira Wiley – Intimate Apparel at Donmar Warehouse
Rachel Zegler – Evita at The London Palladium

Best Designer

Miriam Buether – Kyoto at @sohoplace / The Land Of The Living at National Theatre
Lizzie Clachan – The Lady From The Sea at Bridge Theatre
Soutra Gilmour – Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane / Evita at The London Palladium
Tom Pye – Paddington The Musical at Savoy Theatre
Tom Scutt – Into The Woods at Bridge Theatre
David Zinn – Stereophonic at Duke of York’s / Here We Are at National Theatre

Best Shakespearean Performance

Hayley Atwell – Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Jonathan Bailey – Richard II at Bridge Theatre
David Harewood – Othello at Haymarket Theatre
Tom Hiddleston – Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Francesca Mills – Hamlet at National Theatre
Samuel West – Twelfth Night at Barbican

Best Newcomer

Isobel Akuwudike – The Lady From The Sea at Bridge Theatre
Ruby Ashbourne-Serkis – Indian Ink at Hampstead Theatre
Asa Butterfield – Second Best at Riverside Studios
Kate Phillips – The Weir at Harold Pinter Theatre
Diego Andres Rodriguez – Evita at The London Palladium
Jasper Talbot – Inter Alia at National Theatre
Artie Wilkinson-Hunt – The Land Of The Living at National Theatre