Prima Facie, Oklahoma! Win 2023 Olivier Awards

The 2023 Laurence Olivier Awards were held at Royal Albert Hall in London on April 2. Past and upcoming Broadway offerings were among the evening’s winners.

The reenvisioned version of Oklahoma! from director Daniel Fish took home the award for Best Musical Revival (winning over, among other revivals, the West End transfer of Broadway’s My Fair Lady from director Bartlett Sher). The fresh take on Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! opened on Broadway in April of 2019 and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Additionally, the 2023 Oliviers honored Arthur Darvill with an award as Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Curly in the London transfer. 

Also on the Broadway front, Suzie Miller’s new play Prima Facie, which debuted in London in June of 2022 and will arrive on the Rialto on April 11, won the Olivier for Best New Play. (Among the nominated plays beat out by Prima Facie was the West End transfer of Broadway hit To Kill a Mockingbird.) Prima Facie star Jodie Comer, who is set to reprise her turn on the Main Stem, won the Olivier for Best Actress. 

Presented by the Society of London Theatre, the Oliviers celebrate the best of professional theater, dance and opera in London, including the West End. Emmy-winning actor Hannah Waddingham, a three-time Olivier nominee and Broadway alum, hosted the ceremony.

See below for a full list of winners, beginning with the categories mentioned above. 

Best Musical Revival
Winner: Oklahoma!
My Fair Lady
Sister Act
South Pacific

Best New Play
Winner: Prima Facie
For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy
Theatre Downstairs
Patriots
To Kill a Mockingbird

Best Actress
Winner: Jodie Comer, Prima Facie
Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire
Mei Mac, My Neighbour Totoro
Janet McTeer, Phaedra
Nicola Walker, The Corn Is Green

Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer
Winner: Matt Cole, Newsies
Lynne Page, Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Kate Prince, Sylvia
Basil Twist for puppetry direction, My Neighbour Totoro

Best Costume Design
Winner: Kimie Nakano, My Neighbour Totoro
Frankie Bradshaw, Blues for An Alabama Sky
Hugh Durrant, Jack and the Beanstalk
Jean Paul Gaultier, Jean Paul Gaultier Fashion Freak Show

Best Revival
Winner: A Streetcar Named Desire
The Crucible
Good
Jerusalem

Best Sound Design
Winner: Tony Gayle, My Neighbour Totoro
Bobby Aitken, Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Drew Levy, Oklahoma!
Ben and Max Ringham, Prima Facie

Best Original Score or New Orchestrations
Winner: Richard Hawley and Tom Deering, Standing at the Sky’s Edge
David Yazbek, Jamshied Sharifi and Andrea Grody, The Band’s Visit
Joe Hisaishi and Will Stuart, My Neighbour Totoro
Daniel Kluger and Nathan Koci, Oklahoma!

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner: Will Keen for Patriots
Mark Akintimehin, Emmanuel Akwafo, Nnabiko Ejimofor, Darragh Hand, Aruna Jalloh and Kaine Lawrence, For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy
Elliot Levey, Good
David Moorst, To Kill a Mockingbird
Sule Rimi, Blues for An Alabama Sky

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner: Anjana Vasan, A Streetcar Named Desire
Rose Ayling-Ellis, As You Like It
Pamela Nomvete, To Kill a Mockingbird
Caroline Quentin, Jack Absolute Flies Again
Sharon Small, Good

Best Set Design
Winner: Tom Pye, My Neighbour Totoro
Miriam Buether, To Kill a Mockingbird
Ben Stones, Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Mark Walters, Jack and the Beanstalk

Best Lighting Design
Winner: Jessica Hung Han Yun, My Neighbour Totoro
Natasha Chivers, Prima Facie
Lee Curran, A Streetcar Named Desire
Tim Lutkin, The Crucible

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Winner: Beverley Knight, Sylvia
Maimuna Memon, Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Liza Sadovy, Oklahoma!
Marisha Wallace, Oklahoma!

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Winner: Zubin Varla, Tammy Faye
Sharif Afifi, The Band’s Visit
Peter Polycarpou, The Band’s Visit
Clive Rowe, Sister Act

Best Actor in a Musical
Winner: Arthur Darvill, Oklahoma!
Alon Moni Aboutboul, The Band’s Visit
Julian Ovenden, South Pacific
Andrew Rannells, Tammy Faye

Best Actress in a Musical
Winner: Katie Brayben, Tammy Faye
Anoushka Lucas, Oklahoma!
Miri Mesika, The Band’s Visit
Faith Omole, Standing at the Sky’s Edge

Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre
Winner: The P Word at Bush Theatre
Age Is a Feeling at Soho Theatre
Blackout Songs at Hampstead Theatre
Paradise Now! at Bush Theatre
Two Palestinians Go Dogging at the Royal Court Theatre

Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director
Winner: Phelim McDermott, My Neighbour Totoro
Rebecca Frecknall, A Streetcar Named Desire
Robert Hastie, Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Justin Martin, Prima Facie
Bartlett Sher, To Kill a Mockingbird

Best Actor
Winner: Paul Mescal, A Streetcar Named Desire
Tom Hollander, Patriots
Rafe Spall, To Kill a Mockingbird
David Tennant, Good
Giles Terera, Blues for An Alabama Sky

Best New Musical
Winner: Standing at the Sky’s Edge
The Band’s Visit
Sylvia
Tammy Faye

Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play
Winner: My Neighbour Totoro
Jack and the Beanstalk
My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?)
One Woman Show

Best Family Show
Winner: Hey Duggee: The Live Theatre Show
Blippi the Musical
Midsummer Mechanicals
The Smartest Giant in Town

Best New Opera Production
Winner: Alcina by Royal Opera
Least Like the Other by Irish National Opera and Royal Opera
Peter Grimes by Royal Opera
Sibyl

Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Winner: William Kentridge for his conception and direction of Sibyl
Sinéad Campbell-Wallace for her performance in Tosca by English National Opera
Antony McDonald for his design of Alcina

Best New Dance Production
Winner: Traplord by Ivan Michael Blackstock
Light of Passage by Crystal Pite
Pasionaria by La Veronal
Triptych (The Missing Door, The Lost Room and The Hidden Floor) by Peeping Tom

Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Winner: Dickson Mbi for his choreography of Enowate
Manuel Liñán for his choreography of ¡Viva!
Raquel Meseguer Zafe for her dramaturgy of Ruination by Lost Dog
Catrina Nisbett for her performance in Family Honour by Spoken Movement

Special Award
Dame Arlene Phillips

Lifetime Achievement Award
Sir Derek Jacobi