Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director
| Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Director |
| Location | England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First award | 1976 |
| Currently held by | Eline Arbo for The Years (2025) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
The Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director 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.
Introduced in 1976 as the award for Best Director, it was renamed in 2018 in honor of acclaimed theatre director Sir Peter Hall, beginning with the 2019 award ceremony.
In 1991, the category was briefly retired and divided into the categories Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical. These two categories were in turn retired in 1995, and the Best Director award was reinstated.
Robert Icke became the Best Director award's youngest ever winner at the age of 29 in 2016; the record was previously held by Deborah Warner, the 1988 recipient.
Only six women have ever won the award: Deborah Warner, Marianne Elliott, Lyndsey Turner, Miranda Cromwell, Rebecca Frecknall, and Eline Arbo.