Northampton’s Royal & Derngate was named as the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre at the prestigious UK Theatre Awards 2025 ceremony on Sunday.

For over 30 years, this annual event has celebrated the creative excellence and outstanding achievements seen on and off stage throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

UK Theatre member venues were invited to apply for the coveted Most Welcoming Theatre award, and the three finalists were selected based on how welcoming the venues are across multiple factors, from accessibility and inclusion practices, to programming, outreach, workforce and audience development. The other two finalists for the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Award, alongside Royal & Derngate, were Birmingham Rep and the Shakespeare North Playhouse in Liverpool.

The judging panel made their final decision after visit the venues in person to determine the overall winner. Visits involved meeting staff, having a tour of the building, taking part in a scheduled activity, speaking to audience members or visiting the onsite café or restaurant.

Royal & Derngate Chief Executive Jo Gordon commented: “It’s wonderful to see the hard work, professionalism and enthusiasm of our teams and volunteers acknowledged in this way. We’re absolutely delighted to have been named the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre in the UK Theatre Awards. Our teams have shown such resilience over recent years when we’ve experienced the challenges of RAAC concrete in our foyers, managing to work with restricted facilities while still maintaining a welcoming and safe environment for audiences, and in particular for our access customers.”

The theatre’s Artistic Director Jesse Jones added: “We’re very pleased that we’ve been able to explore many new uses of our foyer spaces, since fully reopening, welcoming the community in for art exhibitions, vintage clothes sales and video gaming experiences, while continuing to support emerging and established artists in the region with networking and development opportunities and to run a thriving community programme for young people and adults to take part in. We have to thank all our audiences and supporters, without whom none of this would be possible.”

As part of the annual UK Theatre Awards event, awards are given for work on stage and off stage, including the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Award and the Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre accolade, which is awarded by the UK Theatre Board. The awards ceremony took place at 8 Northumberland Avenue on Sunday 12 October, supported by headline sponsor Encore.