Winners announced for Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards

The winners of this year’s Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards were revealed at a ceremony at the National Theatre this afternoon.

The awards, voted on by UK-based theatre critics, recognised theatre work from across 2024.

The big winning production was Robert Icke’s Broadway-bound new take on the Greek tragedy Oedipus, which won the prizes for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant picked up two prizes, including Best New Play and Most Promising Playwright.

See the winners in full:

Best Director Award

Robert Icke – Oedipus

The Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical

Fiddler on the Roof

Best Actor

Mark Strong – Oedipus

Best Actress

Lesley Manville – Oedipus

Best Designer sponsored by Cabbells

Frankie Bradshaw – Dear Octopus and Ballet Shoes

The Michael Billington Award for Best New Play

Giant by Mark Rosenblatt

The Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance

Danny Sapani – King Lear

The Jack Tinker Award for Best Newcomer sponsored by Finito, the Employability Experts

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers – Romeo and Juliet

Most Promising Playwright 

Mark Rosenblatt – Giant

The Empty Space Peter Brook Award for Innovative Venue

 The Yard