Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director
Annual award for London theatre
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The Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of the "world-class status of London theatre."[1][2] The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
| Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Director |
| Location |  England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First award | 1976 |
| Currently held by | Luke Sheppard for Paddington: The Musical (2026) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
Introduced in 1976 as the award for Best Director, it was renamed in 2018 in honor of acclaimed theatre director Sir Peter Hall, beginning with the 2019 award ceremony.[3]
In 1991, the category was briefly retired and divided into the categories Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical. These two categories were in turn retired in 1995, and the Best Director award was reinstated.
Robert Icke became the Best Director award's youngest ever winner at the age of 29 in 2016; the record was previously held by Deborah Warner, the 1988 recipient.
Only six women have ever won the award: Deborah Warner, Marianne Elliott, Lyndsey Turner, Miranda Cromwell, Rebecca Frecknall, and Eline Arbo.
Winners and nominees
1970s
| Year | Director | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ||
| Jonathan Miller | Three Sisters | |
| Alan Ayckbourn | Confusions, Shakespeare's People and Yahoo | |
| Buzz Goodbody | Occupations and King Lear | |
| Terry Hands | Old World and Henry IV (parts 1 and 2 and Henry V) | |
| 1977 | ||
| Clifford Williams | Wild Oats | |
| Michael Blakemore | Privates on Parade | |
| Bernard Miles | The Fire that Consumes | |
| Trevor Nunn | Macbeth | |
| 1978 | ||
| Terry Hands | Henry VI | |
| Bill Bryden and Sebastian Graham-Jones | Lark Rise | |
| Christopher Morahan | The Philanderer | |
| Harold Prince | Evita | |
| 1979 | ||
| Michael Bogdanov | The Taming of the Shrew | |
| Michael Elliott | The Family Reunion | |
| Trevor Nunn | Once in a Lifetime | |
| Michael Rudman | Death of a Salesman |
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
- Due to late March 2020[4] to late July 2021[5] closing of London theatre productions during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2022 awards recognise productions that launched anytime from February 2020 to February 2022[6]
Multiple awards and nominations
Note: This list of multiple awards and nominations includes individuals awarded and nominated for the Best Director award (1976–1990, 1996–present), as well as the short-lived (1991–1995) more granular pair of awards for Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical.
Awards
- Three awards
- Two awards
Nominations
- Eleven nominations
- Ten nominations
- Richard Eyre
- Trevor Nunn
- Six nominations
- Howard Davies
- Nicholas Hytner
- Five nominations
- Declan Donnellan
- Rupert Goold
- Michael Grandage
- Adrian Noble
- Marianne Elliott
- Four nominations
- Three nominations
- Michael Bogdanov
- Bill Bryden
- Dominic Cooke
- Terry Hands
- Simon McBurney
- Peter Wood
- Rebecca Frecknall
- John Tiffany
- Stephen Daldry
- Two nominations