Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show
Annual award for London theatre
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The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show 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.
| Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Family Show |
| Location |  England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First award | 1991 |
| Currently held by | The Boy at the Back of the Class (2026) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
The award was introduced in 1991, as Best Entertainment, was renamed Best Entertainment and Family in 2012, and changed to its current name in 2020 – when "Entertainment" was moved to join Best Comedy Play on the renamed Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.
Winners and nominees
1990s
| Year | Production | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | ||
| Five Guys Named Moe | Clarke Peters | |
| An Evening with Peter Ustinov | Peter Ustinov | |
| Victoria Wood Up West | Victoria Wood | |
| 1992 | ||
| Talking Heads | Alan Bennett | |
| A Tribute to the Blues Brothers | Con O'Neill | |
| Lavishly Mounted | Kit Hesketh-Harvey and Richard Sisson | |
| Tango Argentino | Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli | |
| 1993 | ||
| Travels with My Aunt | Graham Greene and Giles Havergal | |
| Ennio Marchetto | Ennio Marchetto and Sosthen Hennekam | |
| The Blue Angel | Pam Gems | |
| The Invisible Man | Ken Hill | |
| 1994 | ||
| A Christmas Carol | Patrick Stewart | |
| Jamais Vu | Ken Campbell | |
| January Sale | Kit and The Widow | |
| Stomp | Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas | |
| 1995 | ||
| By Special Arrangement | Maria Friedman | |
| Fascinating Aïda | Dillie Keane, Adele Anderson and Issy Van Randwyck | |
| Juggle and Hyde | The Flying Karamazov Brothers | |
| Jack - A Night On the Town with John Barrymore | Nicol Williamson and Leslie Megahey | |
| 1998 | ||
| Slava's Snowshow | Slava Polunin | |
| Maureen Lipman, Live and Kidding | Maureen Lipman | |
| Marlene | Pam Gems | |
| She Knows You Know | Jean Fergusson | |
| 1999 | ||
| Do You Come Here Often? | The Right Size | |
| Much Ado About Everything | Jackie Mason | |
| Steve Coogan is the Man who Thinks He's It | Steve Coogan and Henry Normal | |
| Shakespeare's Villains: A Masterclass in Evil | Steven Berkoff |
2000s
2010s
2020s
| Year | Production | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ||
| The Worst Witch | Emma Reeves | |
| Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear | Jim Fortune (music) and Andy Stanton (lyrics and book) | |
| Oi Frog and Friends | Emma Earle, Zoe Squire, Luke Bateman and Richy Hughes | |
| To the Moon and Back | Paula Manning | |
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic[A] | |
| 2022[A] | ||
| Wolf Witch Giant Fairy | Little Bulb (Clare Beresford, Dominic Conway and Alexander Scott) | |
| Billionaire Boy | Neal Foster | |
| Dragons and Mythical Beasts | Derek Bond | |
| What the Ladybird Heard | Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks | |
| 2023 | ||
| Hey Duggee the Live Theatre Show | Vikki Stone & Matthew Xia | |
| Blippi the Musical | ||
| Midsummer Mechanicals | Ben Hales & Kerry Frampton | |
| The Smartest Giant in Town | Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler, adapted by Barb Jungr & Samantha Lane | |
| 2024 | ||
| Dinosaur World Live | Derek Bond, Laura Cubitt & Max Humphries | |
| Bluey's Big Play | Joe Brumm | |
| The House with Chicken Legs | Sophie Anderson, adapted by Oliver Lansley | |
| The Smeds and the Smoos | Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler, adapted by Tall Stories | |
| 2025 | ||
| Brainiac Live | Marylebone Theatre | |
| Maddie Moate's Very Curious Christmas | Maddie Moate | |
| The Nutcracker | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | |
| Rough Magic | Shakespeare's Globe - Sam Wanamaker Playhouse | |
- Due to late March 2020[3] to late July 2021[4] 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[5]