Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show
# Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show

The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show 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 introduced in 1991, as Best Entertainment, was renamed Best Entertainment and Family in 2012, and changed to its current name in 2020 – when "Entertainment" was moved to join Best Comedy Play on the renamed Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.

## Winners and nominees

### 1990s

| Year | Production | Writer |
| - | - | - |
| 1991 |
| 1991 | Five Guys Named Moe | Clarke Peters |
| 1991 | An Evening with Peter Ustinov | Peter Ustinov |
| 1991 | Victoria Wood Up West | Victoria Wood |
| 1992 |
| 1992 | Talking Heads | Alan Bennett |
| 1992 | A Tribute to the Blues Brothers | Con O'Neill |
| 1992 | Lavishly Mounted | Kit Hesketh-Harvey and Richard Sisson |
| 1992 | Tango Argentino | Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli |
| 1993 |
| 1993 | Travels with My Aunt | Graham Greene and Giles Havergal |
| 1993 | Ennio Marchetto | Ennio Marchetto and Sosthen Hennekam |
| 1993 | The Blue Angel | Pam Gems |
| 1993 | The Invisible Man | Ken Hill |
| 1994 |
| 1994 | A Christmas Carol | Patrick Stewart |
| 1994 | Jamais Vu | Ken Campbell |
| 1994 | January Sale | Kit and The Widow |
| 1994 | Stomp | Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas |
| 1995 |
| 1995 | By Special Arrangement | Maria Friedman |
| 1995 | Fascinating Aïda | Dillie Keane, Adele Anderson and Issy Van Randwyck |
| 1995 | Juggle and Hyde | The Flying Karamazov Brothers |
| 1995 | Jack - A Night On the Town with John Barrymore | Nicol Williamson and Leslie Megahey |
| 1998 |
| 1998 | Slava's Snowshow | Slava Polunin |
| 1998 | Maureen Lipman, Live and Kidding | Maureen Lipman |
| 1998 | Marlene | Pam Gems |
| 1998 | She Knows You Know | Jean Fergusson |
| 1999 |
| 1999 | Do You Come Here Often? | The Right Size |
| 1999 | Much Ado About Everything | Jackie Mason |
| 1999 | Steve Coogan is the Man who Thinks He's It | Steve Coogan and Henry Normal |
| 1999 | Shakespeare's Villains: A Masterclass in Evil | Steven Berkoff |

### 2000s

| Year | Production | Writer |
| - | - | - |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | Defending the Caveman | Rob Becker |
| 2000 | Al Murray - The Pub Landlord | Al Murray |
| 2000 | Barefaced Chic | Fascinating Aida |
| 2000 | Soul Train | Mark Clements and Michael Vivian |
| 2002 |
| 2002 | Shockheaded Peter | Julian Bleach, Anthony Cairns, Graeme Gilmour and Tamzin Griffin |
| 2002 | The Pub Landlord - My Gaff, My Rules | Al Murray |
| 2002 | Barbara Cook Sings Mostly Sondheim | Barbara Cook |
| 2002 | The League of Gentlemen | Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith |
| 2002 | The Vagina Monologues | Eve Ensler |
| 2003 |
| 2003 | Play Without Words | Matthew Bourne |
| 2003 | Contact | Susan Stroman and John Weidman |
| 2003 | Elaine Stritch at Liberty | John Lahr and Elaine Stritch |
| 2003 | Rory Bremner with John Bird and John Fortune | Rory Bremner |
| 2004 |
| 2004 | Duckie's C'est Barbican! | Ursula Martinez, Christopher Green and Marisa Carnesky |
| 2004 | Jus' Like That | John Fisher |
| 2004 | My Brilliant Divorce | Geraldine Aron |
| 2004 | One Last Flutter | Fascinating Aïda |
| 2004 | The Rat Pack: Live From Las Vegas | Mitch Sebastian, Paul Walden and Derek Nicol |
| 2006 |
| 2006 | Something Wicked This Way Comes | Derren Brown |
| 2006 | Blue Man Group | Blue Man Group |
| 2006 | Ducktastic | The Right Size |
| 2009 |
| 2009 | La Clique | La Clique |
| 2009 | Brief Encounter | Noël Coward |
| 2009 | Maria Friedman: Rearranged | Maria Friedman |

### 2010s

| Year | Production | Writer |
| - | - | - |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Morecambe | Tim Whitnall |
| 2010 | Arturo Brachetti: Change | Sean Foley |
| 2010 | Derren Brown: Enigma | Derren Brown and Andy Nyman |
| 2011 |
| 2011 | The Railway Children | Mike Kenny |
| 2011 | Beauty and the Beast | Lucy Kirkwood |
| 2011 | Ghost Stories | Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman |
| 2011 | Potted Panto | Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner |
| 2012 |
| 2012 | Svengali | Derren Brown |
| 2012 | Midnight Tango | Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace |
| 2012 | Potted Potter | Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner |
| 2012 | The Tiger Who Came to Tea | David Wood |
| 2013 |
| 2013 | Goodnight Mister Tom | David Wood |
| 2013 | Cinderella: A Fairytale | Sally Cookson |
| 2013 | Hansel and Gretel | Lucy Kirkwood |
| 2013 | Room on the Broom | Tall Stories Theatre Company |
| 2014 |
| 2014 | The Wind in the Willows | Will Tuckett |
| 2014 | Derren Brown: Infamous | Derren Brown |
| 2014 | Eat, Pray, Laugh! | Barry Humphries |
| 2014 | Eric and Little Ern | Jonty Stephens and Ian Ashpitel |
| 2015 |
| 2015 | La Soirée | Brett Haylock, Mick Perrin and Mark Rubinstein |
| 2015 | Dance 'til Dawn | Andrew Guerdat and Steven Kreinberg |
| 2015 | Hetty Feather | Jacqueline Wilson and Emma Reeves |
| 2016 |
| 2016 | Showstopper | N/A |
| 2016 | Alice's Adventures Underground | Anthony Spargo and Oliver Lansley |
| 2016 | The Lorax | Dr. Seuss |
| 2016 | I Want My Hat Back | Jon Klassen |
| 2016 | Peter Pan | J. M. Barrie |
| 2017 |
| 2017 | The Red Shoes | Matthew Bourne |
| 2017 | Cinderella | Michael Harrison |
| 2017 | David Baddiel – My Family: Not the Sitcom | David Baddiel |
| 2017 | Peter Pan | J.M. Barrie (devised by the company) |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Dick Whittington | Alan McHugh |
| 2018 | David Walliam's Gangsta Granny | Neal Foster |
| 2018 | Derren Brown: Underground | Derren Brown |
| 2018 | Five Guys Named Moe | Clarke Peters |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | A Monster Calls | Patrick Ness (devised by the company) |
| 2019 | Snow White | Michael Harrison |
| 2019 | Songs for Nobodies | Joanna Murray-Smith |
| 2019 | The Wider Earth | David Morton |

### 2020s

| Year | Production | Writer |
| - | - | - |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | The Worst Witch | Emma Reeves |
| 2020 | Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear | Jim Fortune (music) and Andy Stanton (lyrics and book) |
| 2020 | Oi Frogs and Friends | Emma Earle, Zoe Squire, Luke Bateman and Richy Hughes |
| 2020 | To the Moon and Back | Paula Manning |
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Wolf Witch Giant Fairy | Little Bulb (Clare Beresford, Dominic Conway and Alexander Scott) |
| 2022 | Billionaire Boy | Neal Foster |
| 2022 | Dragons and Mythical Beasts | Derek Bond |
| 2022 | What the Ladybird Heard | Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks |

* 1 2 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
