Winners announced at Olivier Awards 2026 with Cunard 

• This year’s biggest winner is Paddington The Musical, with seven awards including Cunard Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for Paddington pair James Hameed & Arti Shah, and Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Tom Edden and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, respectively 
• Two musicals receive two wins each – Evita and Into The Woods – including Best Actress in a Musical for Rachel Zegler for Evita, and Best Musical Revival for Into The Woods 
• Three plays receive two wins each – All My Sons, Kenrex, and Punch – including Best Revival for All My Sons and Best New Play for Punch 
• Jack Holden wins Best Actor for Kenrex, and Rosamund Pike wins Best Actress for Inter Alia 
• Best Actor and Best Actress in a Supporting Role are awarded to Paapa Essiedu for All My Sons, and Julie Hesmondhalgh for Punch, respectively 
• Ceremony highlights aired from 7pm on BBC Two, and are now available to watch on BBC iPlayer 

The winners of the Olivier Awards 2026 with Cunard were revealed this evening at London’s Royal Albert Hall, in a ceremony hosted by Nick Mohammed. Marking their 50^th anniversary, the Olivier Awards celebrate the very best of London’s world-leading theatre industry. This year’s most awarded production was Paddington The Musical, with seven wins. Musicals Evita and Into The Woods, and plays All My Sons, Kenrex, and Punch, each received two awards.  

Paddington The Musical’s seven wins included the coveted Cunard Best New Musical award for writers Tom Fletcher & Jessica Swale. James Hameed & Arti Shah took home the Best Actor in a Musical award for their joint portrayal of the musical’s title character, whilst Victoria Hamilton-Barritt received the Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical award, and Tom Edden the Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical award. The show’s creatives triumphed, with Luke Sheppard receiving the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director, Tom Pye (Set Design) & Ash J Woodward (Video Design) taking home the award for Best Set Design supported by Blue-i Theatre Technology, and Gabriella Slade (Costume Design) & Tahra Zafar (Paddington Design) winning Best Costume Design, a second win in a row for Gabriella Slade, who won the same award for her work on Starlight Express last year. 

Jamie Lloyd’s bold adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita received two awards: Rachel Zegler’s performance as Eva Peron – which made headlines last summer for its scene performed from the balcony of The London Palladium – earned her the Best Actress in a Musical award, whilst Fabian Aloise received the Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer. Bridge Theatre’s take on Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairytale misadventure Into The Woods won Best Musical Revival supported by Piper-Heidsieck, and Aideen Malone (Lighting Design) & Roland Horvath (Video Design) received the award for Best Lighting Design. 

Three plays – All My Sons, Kenrex, and Punch – received two awards each. All My Sons – a new production of Arthur Miller’s visionary first play – was awarded Best Revival, with Paapa Essiedu taking home the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award. Jack Holden received the highly competitive Best Actor award for his performance in Kenrex (following his UK Theatre Award win last year), whilst Giles Thomas won Best Sound Design supported by d&b audiotechnik for his work on the play, which transferred to London from Sheffield Theatres. Another successful out-of-London transfer and previous UK Theatre Award winner, James Graham’s Punch, which originated at Nottingham Playhouse, received the award for Best New Play supported by The Londoner, with Julie Hesmondhalgh receiving the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. 

The coveted Best Actress award was won by Rosamund Pike, for her tour de force performance in Suzie Miller’s Inter Alia at the National Theatre, following the opening of the West End transfer earlier this week at Wyndham’s Theatre. Elsewhere, the Barbican Theatre’s Good Night, Oscar received the award for Outstanding Musical Contribution for Chris Fenwick (Musical Supervision & Arrangements) & Sean Hayes (Live Piano Performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue). 

Other new productions receiving accolades at the ceremony were Cole Escola’s Broadway hit Oh, Mary!, receiving the Noël Coward Award for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play, Rose Theatre’s The Boy At The Back Of The Class, which received Best Family Show, and The Yard Theatre’s The Glass Menagerie, winning Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre.  

Into The Hairy by Sharon Eyal for S-E-D at Sadler’s Wells won Best New Dance Production, and English National Opera’s Dead Man Walking won Best New Opera Production supported by TAIT, which were presented by this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Dance recipient Sir Wayne McGregor, and Outstanding Contribution to Opera recipient Danielle de Niese, who received their own awards at the Olivier Awards with Cunard Tea Party at The Londoner Hotel last month.  

Special Award recipient Dame Elaine Paige was honoured at the ceremony with a special video tribute, before being presented with her statuette by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, who also read a celebratory message from Her Majesty The Queen. Industry Recognition Award recipients Betty Laine OBE, Linda Tolhurst and David Wood OBE also received a special acknowledgement during the ceremony, honouring their significant contributions to the theatre industry. 

The star-studded ceremony included a special performance marking 40 years of Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom Of The Opera, and a dazzling finale celebrating 20 years of Wicked in the West End. Additional performances throughout the evening included Cunard Best New Musical nominees Paddington The Musical, Shucked, and The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry, and Best Musical Revival nominees Evita, Into The Woods and The Producers. 

Society of London Theatre (SOLT) & UK Theatre Co-CEOs Claire Walker and Hannah Essex said: 

“This year’s Olivier Awards with Cunard were a showstopping celebration of the best of British theatre and we are thrilled to have been able to mark the awards’ 50^th anniversary in such style. Massive congratulation to all of our phenomenal winners and nominees. Their creativity and talent is the reason why the UK is the best place in the world to make and see theatre.” 

This year, the Olivier Awards welcomed Cunard as Headline Partner, further strengthening Cunard’s long-standing connection with world-class theatre and commitment to supporting the arts, prevalent both on board their ships and ashore. Additionally, Cunard gives its name to the Cunard Best New Musical award. 

Katie McAlister, President of Cunard, said:  

“Cunard’s connection to theatre, arts and culture has been part of our rich history for 185 years. It’s a privilege to be the headline partner of the Olivier Awards in its 50^th year as these awards truly celebrate the very best of British theatre and its global impact, from the talent on stage to the creativity behind the scenes.” 

The Olivier Awards with Cunard are grateful to all of our award supporting partners: Blue-i Theatre Technology, Cunard, d&b audiotechnik, Piper-Heidsieck, TAIT and The Londoner. We also extend our thanks to our official car partner, Audi. In addition, we would like to recognise the support of Famille Perrin, Fortnum and Mason, Grass & Co., Island Chocolate, Mahou, Ovation Rights, See Tickets and The Observer. 

For its 50^th year, the Olivier Awards was televised in a prime-time slot on BBC Two on Sunday 12 April is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer. The programme was produced by Penny Lane Entertainment in partnership with the Society of London Theatre. A special BBC Radio 2 show hosted by Jo Whiley, featuring performances from some of the night’s biggest shows and exclusive interviews with a dazzling line-up of stars, is available to listen to on BBC Sounds. Ex-UK viewers can tune into Official London Theatre’s YouTube channel to watch the highlights programme.