Last night, Dear Evan Hansen Olivier winner Sam Tutty and X Factor alum Shan Ako hosted The Stage Awards 2022 ceremony at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Sharing top honors as Theatre of the Year were Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre and the Battersea Arts Centre. The Marlowe was noted for its engagement efforts like its Projekt Europa residency for migrant artists and its Catalyst for Culture commissions. The Battersea was noted for its pay-what-you-can pricing and its Co-Creating Change partnership, which has awarded nearly £150,000 for projects in underserved communities.
London’s New Diorama Theatre was named best Fringe Theatre for the second time, while the West End’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane was named Theatre Building of the Year. Part of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres, the Drury Lane recently underwent a £60 refurbishment, reopening in June and welcoming the UK premiere of Frozen in August. Musical theater producer Michael Harrison, who presented the West End premiere of The Drifters Girl and UK tour of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, won Producer of the year.
The Innovation of the Year award went to the Theatre Green Book initiative for its work toward sustainability in the arts. Of the two new categories this year, Digital Project of the Year went to the National Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet, while Community Project of the Year went to teen theater Company Three’s When This Is Over, which was created to coincide with the COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow. A special Unsung Hero Award was also dedicated to all of the understudies and covers who have kept shows across the UK up and running throughout the pandemic.