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.

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show
Awarded for	Best Family Show
Location	England
Presented by	Society of London Theatre
First award	1991
Currently held by	Dinosaur World Live by Derek Bond (2024)
Website	officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/

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

2000s

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

2010s

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

2020s

Year	Production	Writer
2020
	The Worst Witch	Emma Reeves
	Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear	Jim Fortune (music) and Andy Stanton (lyrics and book)
	Oi Frog and Friends	Emma Earle, Zoe Squire, Luke Bateman and Richy Hughes
	To the Moon and Back	Paula Manning
2021	Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic[A]
2022[A]
	Wolf Witch Giant Fairy	Little Bulb (Clare Beresford, Dominic Conway and Alexander Scott)
	Billionaire Boy	Neal Foster
	Dragons and Mythical Beasts	Derek Bond
	What the Ladybird Heard	Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks
2023
	Hey Duggee the Live Theatre Show	Vikki Stone & Matthew Xia
	Blippi the Musical
	Midsummer Mechanicals	Ben Hales & Kerry Frampton
	The Smartest Giant in Town	Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler, adapted by Barb Jungr & Samantha Lane
2024
	Dinosaur World Live	Derek Bond, Laura Cubitt & Max Humphries
	Bluey's Big Play	Joe Brumm
	The House with Chicken Legs	Sophie Anderson, adapted by Oliver Lansley
	The Smeds and the Smoos	Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler, adapted by Tall Stories

1. Due to late March 2020^[1] to late July 2021^[2] 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^[3]

See also

• Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
• Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event