Olivier Awards 2022: the winners in numbers

The Olivier Awards 2022 returned to a full ceremony for the first time since the pandemic at the weekend, with Cabaret taking the lion’s share of the prizes, with seven awards, including all four performance categories. Life of Pi received the most accolades for a play. Here, we break down the results in detail:

Biggest winners

7 – Awards won by Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club out of 11 nominations, making it the joint most-decorated musical in Olivier Awards history along with Hamilton and Matilda.

4 – musical performance categories won by Cabaret; including Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley for best actor and actress in a musical, and Elliot Levey and Liza Sadovy for the best supporting awards. 

5 – Awards won by Life of Pi at Wyndham’s Theatre out of nine nominations, including best new play and Hiran Abeysekera as best actor.

7 – actors who played the tiger in Life of Pi made history by winning best supporting actor.

Year-on-year changes

17 – awards won by commercial productions, including Cabaret, Back to the Future, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical.

16 – awards for productions that originated in subsidised or not-for-profit theatres, which compares to 13 at the last Olivier Awards in 2020. The list includes Life of Pi, which premiered at Sheffield’s Crucible and Pride and Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of), which began life at Bristol Old Vic.

3 – Awards for women in individual non-gendered categories, including Cabaret’s Rebecca Frecknall for best director. 

3 – Individual non-gendered categories won by men, including Nick Lidster for his sound design for Cabaret.

4 – Awards won in 2020 by women in individual non-gendered categories, compared to two for men.

3 – Accolades for shows at the Royal Opera House, compared to two in 2020.

1 – Olivier Award for the National Theatre, with Liz Carr winning best supporting actress for her role in The Normal Heart at the Olivier. This is the same number of awards for the National as in 2020.

Omissions

0 – awards for Frozen at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, despite four nominations.