Pioneering Women at the Olivier Awards

Concord Theatricals’ catalogue features some of the finest female voices of the 20th and 21st centuries. From the very beginning, women have made their mark on the theatre, inspiring subsequent generations of women to join the industry. Below, explore the amazing creatives in the Concord catalogue who earned accolades at the Olivier Awards.

BEST NEW PLAY

• 1976 Nominee: Ariadne Nicolaeff for Old World (US/UK)
• 1977 Nominee: Pam Gems for Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi (UK)
• 1978 Nominee: Flora Thompson for Lark Rise (UK)
• 1982 Nominee: Helene Hanff for 84, Charing Cross Road (US/UK)
• 1986 Nominee: Anne Devlin for Ourselves Alone (US)
• 1987 Winner: Caryl Churchill for Serious Money (US/UK)
• 1988 Winner: Timberlake Wertenbaker for Our Country’s Good (UK)
• 1992 Nominee: Timberlake Wertenbaker for Three Birds Alighting on a Field (UK)
• 1999 Nominee: Yasmina Reza for The Unexpected Man (UK)
• 2001 Nominee: Yasmina Reza for Life X 3 (UK)
• 2002 Nominee: Charlotte Jones for Humble Boy (US/UK)
• 2005 Nominee: Marina Carr for By the Bog of Cats (US)
• 2009 Nominee: Polly Stenham for That Face (US/UK)
• 2010 Winner: Katori Hall for The Mountaintop (US)
• 2010 Nominee: Lucy Prebble for Enron (UK)
• 2011 Nominee: Nina Raine for Tribes (US)
• 2012 Nominee: April De Angelis for Jumpy (UK)
• 2014 Winner: Lucy Kirkwood for Chimerica (US)
• 2015 Nominee: Jennifer Haley for The Nether (US/UK)
• 2016 Nominee: Claire van Kampen for Farinelli and the King (US/UK)
• 2017 Nominee: Annie Baker for The Flick (US/UK)
• 2019 Nominee: Lynn Nottage for Sweat (US)
• 2020 Nominee: Lucy Prebble for A Very Expensive Poison (UK)

BEST NEW COMEDY

• 1977 Nominee: Mary O’Malley for Once a Catholic (US/UK)
• 1981 Winner: Nell Dunn for Steaming (US/UK)
• 1982 Nominee: Claire Luckham for Trafford Tanzi (US/UK)
• 1983 Winner: Denise Deegan for Daisy Pulls It Off (US/UK)
• 1997 Winner: Yasmina Reza for Art (US/UK)
• 2000 Winner: Shelagh Stephenson for The Memory of Water (UK)
• 2003 Nominee: Moira Buffini for Dinner (UK)
• 2009 Winner: Yasmina Reza for God of Carnage (UK)
• 2015 Nominee: Moira Buffini for Handbagged (US)
• 2018 Nominee: Sarah Burgess for Dry Powder (US)
• 2019 Winner: Laura Wade for Home, I’m Darling (UK)
• 2019 Nominee: Natasha Gordon for Nine Night (US)
• 2024 Nominee: Liv Hennessy for Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial (UK)

BEST NEW MUSICAL (Formerly known as MUSICAL OF THE YEAR)

• 1976 Nominee: Very Good Eddie, Additional Lyrics by Elsie Janis (US/UK)
• 1980 Nominee: They’re Playing Our Song, Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager (US/UK)
• 1980 Nominee: On The Twentieth Century, Book and Lyrics by Betty Comden (co-writer) (US/UK)
• 1981 Nominee: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall (US/UK)
• 1984 Nominee: Pump Boys And Dinettes, Book, Lyrics and Music by Debra Monk (US/UK)
• 1986 Nominee: Wonderful Town, Lyrics by Betty Comden (co-writer) (US)
• 1999 Nominee: Whistle Down the Wind, Book by Patricia Knop and Gale Edwards (US)
• 2005 Nominee: The Woman in White, Book by Charlotte Jones (US)
• 2007 Nominee: The Gershwins^®’ Porgy and Bess^®, Book by Dorothy Heyward (co-writer) (US/UK)
• 2016 Winner: In the Heights, Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes (US/UK)
• 2019 Nominee: Fun Home, Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron (US/UK)
• 2019 Nominee: Six, Music, Book and Lyrics by Lucy Moss (co-creator) (US/UK)
• 2024 Winner: Operation Mincemeat, co-created by Zoë Roberts and Natasha Hodgson (US/UK)

BEST FAMILY SHOW

• 2004 Winner: Geraldine Aron for My Brilliant Divorce (UK)
• 2011 Winner: Edith Nesbit for The Railway Children (US/UK)
• 2013 Winner: Michelle Magorian for Goodnight Mister Tom (UK)
• 2020 Winner: Emma Reeves and Jill Murphy for The Worst Witch (US/UK)

For more great plays and musicals written by women, visit Concord Theatricals in the US or UK.