News

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch was delighted to recently win the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre award in the East for the second year running, in the UK Theatre Awards, in association with Smooth Radio. Box Office Manager Jan Sullivan, Deputy Box Office Manager Julia Jones, Marketing Manager Sarah Soliman and Audiences and Facilities Assistant Manager Peter Thorne attended the ceremony, held at London’s historic Guildhall on Sunday 15 October, where they were honoured to collect the award. The Queen’s Theatre was among 12 regional winners and the awards, voted for by the public, are a wonderful opportunity for audiences to celebrate their local theatres. Mathew Russell, Executive Director at the Queen’s Theatre said, ‘We are overjoyed to have retained our title as the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre in the East. Thank you to everyone who voted for us and to all the staff at the Queen’s Theatre, whose continuing dedication and professionalism has earned us this award. We’re making great developments to our rich programme of work, offering an increasingly diverse and affordable programme of quality entertainment all year round to appeal to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.’ At the ceremony, the Queen’s Theatre team rubbed shoulders with showbiz luminaries, including actress Sharon D Clarke (The Lion King, Chicago, We Will Rock You) who hosted the event and actor Joseph Millson (Royal Shakespeare Company). The event also saw theatre critic, writer and journalist Lyn Gardner awarded with the Outstanding Contribution To British Theatre 2017 award by Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Emma Rice. The group were also treated to a performance by Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which scooped Best New Musical and Best Performance in a Musical. It transfers from Sheffield Theatre to the West End in November. The full list of winners of this year’s UK Theatre Awards can be found here