Paddington Brown meets Eva Perón: An Overview of the Olivier Awards 2026 

It’s awards season once again, which means it’s time for the Olivier Awards, celebrating the very best of what theatre has to offer across the United Kingdom – sponsored by cruise line company Cunard! On 12 April the likes of Paddington, the Phantom and Elphaba gathered at the Royal Albert Hall to witness the most prestigious night in the theatrical calendar. 

Going into the ceremony, Paddington: The Musical and the latest revival of Sondheim’s Into The Woods were leading the pack with 11 nominations each. The results reflected this, with Paddington tying the score of the most successful musical in Olivier history, winning 7 awards in total. Into The Woods walked away with 2 wins, but took home the prize of the all-important ‘Best Musical Revival’ alongside its win for ‘Best Lighting Design’, controversially beating the latest Jamie Lloyd directed revival of Evita. However, the show is not to be confused with Into The Hairy, which walked away with the award for ‘Best New Dance Production’. 

The night seemed to be understandably marked by heartfelt, teary-eyed speeches, with Paapa Essiedu using his win…to discuss the value of theatre programs in disadvantaged neighbourhoods

For plays, Kenrex proved to be the underdog of the evening, beating Paddington and Into The Woods for ‘Best Sound Design’, and Jack Holden winning for ‘Best Actor’. It did however lose out on ‘Best New Play’ to James Graham’s Punch, a show about real-life story of a manslaughter incident, which led to a moving moment where Graham invited the people who inspired the play up to collect the award with him. Punch also picked up the award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for Julie Hesmondhalgh, before heading on a UK tour next year. The play All My Sons also had a successful evening, taking home ‘Best Musical Contribution’ and ‘Best Revival’. 

The night seemed to be understandably marked by heartfelt, teary-eyed speeches, with Paapa Essiedu using his win in ‘Best Supporting Actor’ in All My Sons to discuss the value of theatre programs in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and their recent funding cuts. This was followed by Rosamund Pike in her win for ‘Best Actress’ in Inter Alia, a critically acclaimed one-woman play about the challenges of being a working mother. James Hameed praised his father as his “very own Paddington”, speaking of the value of immigration in his Paddington win alongside Arti Shah for ‘Best Actor in a Musical’, with Arti promising her son that “being different is a good thing”, prompting rapturous applause from the audience. 

Bookending the show were special performances from The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked, in honour of their 40th and 20th anniversaries on the West End respectively

On a lighter note, Cole Escola’s ‘Best Entertainment or Comedy Play’ win for Oh, Mary! prompted a thanks to his “imaginary” husband, and Rachel Zegler seemed to be the only one shocked at her win for ‘Best Actress in a Musical’, a widely-expected win for Evita alongside Fabian Aloise for ‘Best Choreography’. Zegler showcased her winning talent in a performance of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ from the show, with stellar performances also coming from Into The Woods and Paddington alongside The Producers and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, two critically acclaimed musicals that got several major nominations in various categories but fell short of taking home the trophies. Bookending the show were special performances from The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked, in honour of their 40th and 20th anniversaries on the West End respectively.  

The night proved to be the end of a journey for Paddington stars Luke Sheppard, Tom Edden and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, who all received wins in ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Musical’ after years of nominations. The show also picked up wins for ‘Best Costume Design’, ‘Best Set Design’ and ‘Best New Musical’, rounding out a justifiably successful night for a show bound to run on the West End for decades.  

To round out the night, Dead Man Walking took home ‘Best New Opera’ and The Glass Menagerie won ‘Best Affiliate Theatre Production’, with The Boy At The Back Of The Class succeeding in ‘Best Family Show’. Several notable announcements were also made, including a 2028 extension of Paddington and a West-End transfer for Into the Woods, which completed an evening of somewhat expected wins in many major categories, but each one was none-the-less deserved, and made for an entertaining, and at times, emotional watch.