THE MUST SEE THEATRE AWARDS 2025
It’s that time of year again. Welcome to the 2025 MustSeeTheatre.com Awards. In a year that saw the boutique website continue to build, curating 70 ‘reviews you can trust’ as well as news and features spotlighting productions across the UK, the MustSeeTheatre.com Awards highlight the best of our coverage.
From sublime theatrical experiences, to iconic performances, up and coming stars to icons of the theatre world, the MustSeeTheatre.com Awards shine a spotlight on productions and performers deserving of special recognition in 2025 while celebrate the highlights of MustSeeTheatre.com’s theatre-going schedule last year.
Now without any further ado, it’s time to meet the winners…
The Must See Theatre 2025 London Hot Ticket Award goes to… Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, produced by Cameron Mackintosh with direction and choreography by Matthew Bourne, and starring Simon Lipkin as Fagin, Shanay Holmes as Nancy and Billy Jenkins as The Artful Dodger. Full of energy, brightly colourful and beautifully staged, while all the time honouring Bart’s original stage production, this is the Oliver! that the West End has been waiting for, a spectacular piece of Must See Musical Theatre. Want more? Oliver! continues at the Gielgud Theatre, the 2026 company boasting many of the original cast. Tickets HERE.
The Must See Theatre 2025 Best Immersive Experience Award goes to… Agatha Christie’s Witness For The Prosecution at London’s City Hall. This imposing site-specific piece finds the former Greater London Council Chamber transformed into The Old Bailey with audience members providing an ever changing jury – although the verdict always remains the same. This gripping, engaging and brilliantly staged piece of theatre is a Must See and the 2025 cast, led by Roger May as Sir Wilfrid Robarts, QC (pictured), were exceptional. Top tip, attend a matinee, it’s a fantastic means of whiling away an afternoon. Tickets HERE.
The Must See Theatre 2025 West End Performance Award goes jointly to… Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada for their portrayals of Emcee and Sally Bowles in Rebecca Frecknell’s ongoing West End revival of Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club, otherwise known as the Playhouse Theatre. Grammy Award-winning Carney once more brought Broadway magic to London’s West End. Carney famously starred as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, and Orpheus in the original New York production of Hadestown. Grammy Award-winning Noblezada made her professional debut as Kim in the West End revival of Miss Saigon, then played Éponine in Les Misérables and as Eurydice in the original London production of Hadestown. The pair married during their season together on Cabaret in London.
The Must See Theatre 2025 Stage Legend Award, a new award for 2025 recognising actors who are the finest exponents of stagecraft , goes to… veteran star of stage and screen Martin Shaw, for his beguiling performance as Sir Thomas More, in Robert Bolt’s history play A Man For All Seasons at Bath’s New Theatre Royal, and subsequently on tour. A commanding masterclass from the man still much loved for television roles such as Ray Doyle of The Professionals, Judge John Deed and George Gently, but obviously more at home on the live stage. And there’s more good news, A Man For All Seasons is set to embark on a second tour this Autumn with Shaw returning the role he has played frequently throughout his career. Tickets HERE.
The Must See Theatre 2025 Best Solo Performance Award goes to… Frances Barber for her tantalising return to the role of Billie Trix in Pet Shop Boys and Jonathan Harvey’s one-woman cabaret musical, MUSIK, at Wilton’s Music Hall. Barber first played Trix in the West End musical Closer To Heaven 25 years ago and remains a force of nature in the ever evolving role, effortlessly holding her audience in thrall in a mesmerising solo performance. If you missed it, or just want to relive the experiences then, you’ve guessed it, there’s even more good news, MUSIK comes to UK Cinemas this April. Tickets HERE.
The Must See Theatre 2025 Edinburgh Actor Of The Year Award goes to… Bruntsfield’s Rory Macleod who returned home to the Festival Theatre with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures to dance the lead in Swan Lake: The Next Generation, giving a blistering interpretation of The Swan/The Stranger. This Award acknowledges Must See Theatre’s Edinburgh roots, by recognising exceptional young talent born and raised in Scotland’s Capital. Macleod, who graduated from dancing the role of The Pink Gobstopper in Bourne’s Nutcracker in 2021 to the lead in Swan Lake just five years later, via the role of Romeo in Romeo & Juliet in 2024, fits that bill perfectly. Rory will shortly be seen in Matthew Bourne’s new production of The Car Man. Tickets HERE.
The Must See Theatre 2025 Best Panto Debut Award goes to… female impersonator, choreographer and Funny Girls legend Betty Legs Diamond, aka Simon Green, for his arrival in pantoland at the age of 61 to play Polly La Plonk in UK Productions’ Beauty and The Beast at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre. Physical and loveably sardonic, Betty Legs Diamond’s dotty Dame doesn’t need a body-double to do summersaults across the stage, can still do the splits (and get back up), and Can Can with the best of them. So much potential, hopefully, it won’t be a one-off.
The Must See Theatre 2025 Outstanding Contribution Award goes to… Su Pollard. A ‘National Treasure’ loved by everyone, Su celebrated 50 years in show business in 2025 and is undoubtedly one of the hardest working entertainers in the business. This Award is presented on behalf of anyone who has enjoyed her stage performances in pantomime, musical theatre and plays and on television in series such as Hi-De-Hi!, You Rang M’Lord? and Oh, Doctor Beeching!. Most of which can still be found on TV to this day, a testament to her talent. Meanwhile Su’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, Su Pollard: Still Fully Charged continues its tour later this year. Tickets HERE.
The Must See Theatre 2025 Must See Performance Award goes to… Gary Oldman for his outstanding performance in Krapp’s Last Tape, at York’s Theatre Royal. A production staged to raise funds for the survival of the theatre, Oldman was spellbinding in Samuel Beckett’s existential monologue, which although undoubtedly a challenge for many there simply to see Slow Horses’ Jackson Lamb or Harry Potter’s Sirius Black on stage, was an masterclass in presence, stillness and being. Yet again there’s good news, Oldman will reprise the role for a month long season at London’s Royal Court Theatre, this May. Tickets HERE.
READ MORE: Click here to discover the 2024 MustSeeTheatre.com Award Winners
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR WINNERS
