This is London Magazine February Edition 2026 - Flipbook - Page 16
Photo: Pamela Raith Photography.
16
OLIVIER AWARDS PARTNERSHIPS
FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY
The Olivier Awards partnerships for
2026 include Cunard as a new Headline
Partner for the event, and the BBC
as Broadcast Partner. The ceremony will
take place on Sunday 12 April and will
mark the 50th anniversary of the awards,
which were established in 1976.
As Headline Partner, Cunard further
strengthens its long-standing connection
with world-class theatre and
commitment to supporting the
arts, prevalent both on board their ships
and ashore.
Cunard takes the wonder of the West
End to the open ocean, both through
its core on-board entertainment
programme which includes the Olivier
Award-winning Come From Away (2019
Best New Musical winner) and Pride
And Prejudice* (*Sort Of) (2022 Best
Entertainment or Comedy Play winner).
For its 50th year, the Olivier Awards will
be televised in a prime-time slot on the
BBC on Sunday 12 April.
Kash Bennett, President of the Society
of London Theatre, said: ‘I am thrilled
that the Olivier Awards are working
with the BBC for our 50th anniversary
and that Cunard, stalwart champions of
London theatre, will be our Headline
Partner. These prestigious partnerships
enable us to shine a spotlight on the
best of London theatre and the vitality of
arts and culture.’
As part of exciting plans for 2026, the
Olivier Awards with Cunard will be
celebrating the crucial role that UK
theatre plays as an incubator of talent
linking past winners and nominees with
the local venues that inspired and
nurtured them.
A brand-new partnership with The
Observer will offer enhanced coverage of
the nominations and events surrounding
the awards, including an exclusive series
of nominee portraits.
Tickets for the Olivier Awards 2026
with Cunard are now on sale to the
public, available at RoyalAlbertHall.com
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
Photo: Oliver Look
Sweet Mambo.
TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL PINA
BAUSCH 'SWEET MAMBO'
Sadler’s Wells kicks off the month of
February with Pina Bausch’s Sweet
Mambo performed by Tanztheater
Wuppertal Pina Bausch from Wednesday
11 February – Saturday 21 February.
First staged in 2008, the legendary
choreographer’s penultimate work makes
its long-awaited London premiere at
Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Bausch’s
dancers-turned-collaborators bring years
of experience, influenced by their own
personal recollections, to communicate
in movement what can’t be said in
words. Created in the renowned
Tanztheater style Bausch made famous,
this performance lays bare the sweetness
and severity of life.
'Sweet Mambo' is one of many pieces
in Bausch’s repertoire representing a
nearly 30 year-long collaboration
between Bausch and Peter Pabst, the
original set designer for the piece.
Characterised by billowing drapes which
were also used in Bausch’s 2007 piece
Bamboo Blues, 'Sweet Mambo' sees
Bausch’s dancers interact with the
curtains. Pabst’s set design maintains an
active conversation with the
choreography, which lends 'Sweet
Mambo' Bausch’s signature visceral
quality.
Dancer and choreographer Pina
Bausch (1940–2009) renamed the
Wuppertal Ballet the ‘Tanztheater
Wuppertal’ upon her appointment as
director in 1973. Her idea of combining
dance and theatre revolutionised dance
as we know it today.
Sadler’s Wells Artistic Director and
Co-Chief Executive Sir Alistair Spalding
CBE said: ‘It’s a great privilege to finally
bring 'Sweet Mambo' to Sadler’s Wells
next February for its London premiere.
Her penultimate piece, 'Sweet Mambo'
essentialises everything that fascinates
us about Pina’s work – the melancholia,
the morbid and the bittersweet, with an
undercurrent of poignancy. I’m so
looking forward to seeing another Pina
work in its London home.’
T H I S I S L O N D O N M A G A Z I N E • T H I S I S L O N D O N O N L I N E • w w w. t i l . c o m • @ t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g
