| Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best New Comedy |
| Location |  England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First awarded | 1976 |
| Currently held by | Stranger Things: The First Shadow (2024) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
The Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. 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.
The award was titled Comedy of the Year from its establishment in 1976 until 1990, was renamed to Best Comedy starting in 1991, Best New Comedy starting in 1999, then retitled to its current name for the 2020 Olivier Awards – when "Entertainment" was moved to join Best Comedy Play from the Best Entertainment and Family award, which was renamed Best Family Show at that same time.
Winners and nominees
1970s
| Year | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ||
| Donkeys' Years | Michael Frayn | |
| The Bed Before Yesterday | Ben Travers | |
| Confusions | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| Funny Peculiar | Mike Stott | |
| 1977 | ||
| Privates on Parade | Peter Nichols | |
| Bedroom Farce | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| Once a Catholic | Mary O'Malley | |
| The Kingfisher | William Douglas-Home | |
| 1978 | ||
| Filumena | Eduardo De Filippo, Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall | |
| Shut Your Eyes and Think of England | John Chapman and Anthony Marriott | |
| Ten Times Table | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| 1979 | ||
| Middle-Age Spread | Roger Hall | |
| Clouds | Michael Frayn | |
| Outside Edge | Richard Harris |
1980s
1990s
2000s
| Year | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | ||
| The Memory of Water | Shelagh Stephenson | |
| Comic Potential | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| Quartet | Ronald Harwood | |
| 2001 | ||
| Stones in His Pockets | Marie Jones | |
| Cooking with Elvis | Lee Hall | |
| House/Garden | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| Peggy for You | Alan Plater | |
| 2002 | ||
| The Play What I Wrote | Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben | |
| Boston Marriage | David Mamet | |
| Caught in the Net | Ray Cooney | |
| Feelgood | Alistair Beaton | |
| 2003 | ||
| The Lieutenant of Inishmore | Martin McDonagh | |
| RolePlay | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| Dinner | Moira Buffini | |
| Lobby Hero | Kenneth Lonergan | |
| 2006 | ||
| Heroes | Gérald Sibleyras and Tom Stoppard | |
| Glorious! | Peter Quilter | |
| Shoot the Crow | Owen McCafferty | |
| 2007 | ||
| The 39 Steps | Patrick Barlow, Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon | |
| Don Juan in Soho | Patrick Marber | |
| Love Song | John Kolvenbach | |
| 2008 | ||
| Rafta, Rafta... | Bill Naughton and Ayub Khan-Din | |
| Absurdia: The Crimson Hotel | Michael Frayn | |
| Elling | Simon Bent | |
| Whipping It Up | Stephen Thompson | |
| 2009 | ||
| God of Carnage | Yasmina Reza | |
| Fat Pig | Neil LaBute | |
| The Female of the Species | Joanna Murray-Smith |
2010s
2020s
| Year | Play | Writer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Emilia | Morgan Lloyd Malcolm | |
| Fleabag | Phoebe Waller-Bridge | ||
| Magic Goes Wrong | Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis | ||
| The Upstart Crow | Ben Elton | ||
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2022 | Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) | Isobel McArthur | |
| The Choir of Man | Nic Doodson, Andrew Kay, Jack Blume, Ben Norris, Freddie Huddleston | ||
| Pantoland at the Palladium | Michael Harrison | ||
| The Shark Is Broken | Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw | ||
| 2023 | |||
| My Neighbour Totoro | Tom Morton-Smith | ||
| Jack and the Beanstalk | Michael Harrison | ||
| My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?) | Rob Madge | ||
| One Woman Show | Liz Kingsman | ||
| 2024 | |||
| Stranger Things: The First Shadow | Kate Trefry | ||
| Accidental Death of an Anarchist | Dario Fo & Franca Rame, adapted by Tom Basden | ||
| Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial | adapted by Liv Hennessy | ||
- ^ Due to late March 2020 to late July 2021 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
See also
- Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play
- Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play
- Tony Award for Best Play
References
- Johnson, The Rt Hon Boris, MP (2020-03-23). Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 23 March 2020 [transcript] (Speech). Prime Minister's Televised Speech to the United Kingdom. www.gov.uk. London, UK. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction — you must stay at home.
{{cite speech}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - McPhee, Ryan (2021-06-14). "U.K. Postpones Reopening Roadmap; West End Theatres Will No Longer Reopen in Full in June". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
Step 4 of the roadmap will allow productions to play without capacity restrictions. June 21 was the goal; now, the government is eyeing July 19.
- Thomas, Sophie (2022-03-08). "Everything you need to know about the Olivier Awards". londontheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
Any new production that opened between 19 Feb. 2020 to 22 Feb. 2022 are eligible for categories in the 2022 Olivier Awards. With two years worth of shows set for honours in one year's ceremony, the 2022 Olivier Awards will prove tougher competition than before.
- London Theatre Guide (2008). "The Laurence Olivier Awards: Full List of Winners, 1976-2008" (.PDF). 1976-2008. The Society of London Theatre. p. 20. Retrieved 2008-08-30.