Olivier Award winners 2026: Full list as Rachel Zegler and Paddington win big at 50th anniversary

The 50th annual Olivier Awards have crowned its winners, with theatre icons – both British and American – winning big at this year's ceremony.

Rachel Zegler, who wowed the world with her viral balcony performance of Evita, took home the prize for best actress in a musical, while all-round British legend Paddington Bear scooped up awards for Cunard best new musical, best director and best supporting actor and actress.

The judges also recognised stand-out performances such as Rosamund Pike in Inter Alia and Paapa Essiedu for All My Sons. The Bridge Theatre revival of Into The Woods also scooped up plenty for its impressive lighting and best revival.

Read below for the full list of nominees and winners. Plus, if you want to see some of the award-winning shows live:

• Buy Paddington the musical tickets at LOVETheatre
• Buy Into the Woods tickets at LOVETheatre

Olivier Awards 2026: Full list of winners

Cunard best new musical

• Here We Are (National Theatre)
• Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre) - WINNER
• Shucked (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry (Theatre Royal Haymarket)

Best musical revival

• American Psycho (Almeida Theatre)
• Evita (London Palladium)
• Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre) - WINNER
• The Producers (Garrick Theatre)

Best new play

• 1536 (Almeida Theatre)
• Inter Alia (National Theatre)
• Kenrex (The Other Palace)
• Punch (Young Vic & Apollo Theatre) - WINNER

Best revival

• All My Sons (Wyndham’s Theatre) - WINNER
• Arcadia (The Old Vic)
• Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
• The Seagull (Barbican Theatre)

Noël Coward Award for best new entertainment or comedy play

• The Comedy About Spies (Noël Coward Theatre)
• Every Brilliant Thing (@sohoplace)
• Oh, Mary! (Trafalgar Theatre) - WINNER
• Paranormal Activity (Ambassadors Theatre)

Best actress

• Cate Blanchett – The Seagull (Barbican Theatre)
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste – All My Sons (Wyndham's Theatre)
• Julia McDermott – Weather Girl (Soho Theatre)
• Rosamund Pike – Inter Alia (National Theatre) - WINNER
• Rosie Sheehy – Guess How Much I Love You? (Royal Court Theatre)

Best actor

• Bryan Cranston – All My Sons (Wyndham’s Theatre)
• Sean Hayes – Good Night, Oscar (Barbican Theatre)
• Tom Hiddleston – Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
• Jack Holden – Kenrex (The Other Palace) - WINNER
• David Shields – Punch (Young Vic & Apollo Theatre)

Best actor in a musical

• Marc Antolin – The Producers (Garrick Theatre)
• James Hameed & Arti Shah – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre) - WINNER
• Andy Nyman – The Producers (Garrick Theatre)
• Jamie Parker – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• Diego Andres Rodriguez – Evita (The London Palladium)

Best actress in a musical

• Katie Brayben – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• Danielle Fiamanya & Georgina Onuorah – Brigadoon (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)
• Jane Krakowski – Here We Are (National Theatre)
• Jenna Russell – The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry (Theatre Royal Haymarket)
• Rachel Zegler – Evita (The London Palladium) - WINNER

Best actress in a supporting role

• Isis Hainsworth – Arcadia (The Old Vic)
• Julie Hesmondhalgh – Punch (Young Vic & Apollo Theatre) - WINNER
• Lucy Karczewski – Stereophonic (Duke of York’s Theatre)
• Hayley Squires – All My Sons (Wyndham’s Theatre)
• Sophie Thompson – When We Are Married (Donmar Warehouse)

Best actor in a supporting role

• Hammed Animashaun – Dealer’s Choice (Donmar Warehouse)
• Paapa Essiedu – All My Sons (Wyndham’s Theatre) - WINNER
• Zachary Hart – The Seagull (Barbican Theatre)
• Zachary Hart – Stereophonic (Duke of York’s Theatre)
• Giles Terera – Oh, Mary! (Trafalgar Theatre)

Best actor in a supporting role in a musical

• Trevor Ashley – The Producers (Garrick Theatre)
• Corbin Bleu – The Great Gatsby – A New Musical (London Coliseum)
• Tom Edden – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre) - WINNER
• Jo Foster – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• Oliver Savile – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)

Best actress in a supporting role in a musical

• Tracie Bennett – Here We Are (National Theatre – Lyttelton)
• Amy Booth-Steel – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre)
• Kate Fleetwood – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• Victoria Hamilton-Barritt – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre) - WINNER
• Georgina Onuorah – Shucked (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)

Sir Peter Hall Award for best director

• Jordan Fein – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• Luke Sheppard – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre) - WINNER
• Ed Stambollouian – Kenrex (The Other Palace)
• Lyndsey Turner – 1536 (Almeida Theatre)
• Ivo van Hove – All My Sons (Wyndham’s Theatre)

Gillian Lynne Award for best theatre choreographer

• Fabian Aloise – Evita (The London Palladium) -WINNER
• Ellen Kane – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre)
• Drew McOnie – Brigadoon (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)
• Lynne Page – American Psycho (Almeida Theatre)

Best costume design

• Enver Chakartash – Stereophonic (Duke of York’s Theatre)
• Linda Cho – The Great Gatsby – A New Musical (London Coliseum)
• Tom Scutt – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• Gabriella Slade & Tahra Zafar – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre) - WINNER

Best set design

• Paul Tate dePoo III – The Great Gatsby – A New Musical (London Coliseum)
• Tom Pye & Ash J Woodward – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre) - WINNER
• Tom Scutt – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• David Zinn – Stereophonic (Duke of York’s Theatre)

Best lighting design

• Robbie Butler – Punch (Young Vic & Apollo Theatre)
• Jon Clark – Evita (The London Palladium)
• Aideen Malone & Roland Horvath – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre) - WINNER
• Joshua Pharo – Kenrex (The Other Palace)

Best sound design

• Adam Fisher – Into The Woods (Bridge Theatre)
• Gareth Owen – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre)
• Ryan Rumery – Stereophonic (Duke of York’s Theatre)
• Giles Thomas – Kenrex (The Other Palace) - WINNER

Outstanding musical contribution

• Matt Brind – Paddington The Musical (Savoy Theatre)
• Will Butler & Justin Craig – Stereophonic (Duke of York’s Theatre)
• John Patrick Elliott – Kenrex (The Other Palace)
• Chris Fenwick & Sean Hayes – Good Night, Oscar (Barbican Theatre) - WINNER

Best family show

• The Boy At The Back Of The Class (Rose Theatre) - WINNER
• The Boy With Wings (Polka Theatre)
• The Firework-Maker’s Daughter (Polka Theatre)
• The Three Little Pigs (Unicorn Theatre)

Best new production in affiliate theatre

• Ben And Imo (Orange Tree Theatre)
• The Glass Menagerie (The Yard Theatre) - WINNER
• The Ministry Of Lesbian Affairs (Kiln Theatre)
• Miss Myrtle’s Garden (Bush Theatre)
• The Shitheads (Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at Royal Court Theatre)

Best new dance production

• Into The Hairy (Sadler’s Wells) - WINNER
• Mimi’s Shebeen (Sadler’s Wells East)
• Random Taranto (The Pit at Barbican)
• She’s Auspicious (Sadler’s Wells East)

Best new opera production supported by TAIT

• Dead Man Walking – English National Opera (London Coliseum) - WINNER
• The Makropulos Case – The Royal Opera (Royal Opera House)
• Tosca – The Royal Opera (Royal Opera House)
• Die Walküre – The Royal Opera (Royal Opera House)

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