# Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play

The Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play 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.
The award was titled Comedy of the Year from its establishment in 1976 until 1990, was renamed to Best Comedy starting in 1991, Best New Comedy starting in 1999, then retitled to its current name for the 2020 Olivier Awards – when "Entertainment" was moved to join Best Comedy Play from the Best Entertainment and Family award, which was renamed Best Family Show at that same time.

## Winners and nominees
### 1970s

| Year | Play | Writer |
| 1976 |
| 1976 | Donkeys' Years | Michael Frayn |
| 1976 | The Bed Before Yesterday | Ben Travers |
| 1976 | Confusions | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1976 | Funny Peculiar | Mike Stott |
| 1977 |
| 1977 | Privates on Parade | Peter Nichols |
| 1977 | Bedroom Farce | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1977 | Once a Catholic | Mary O'Malley |
| 1977 | The Kingfisher | William Douglas-Home |
| 1978 |
| 1978 | Filumena | Eduardo De Filippo, Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall |
| 1978 | Shut Your Eyes and Think of England | John Chapman and Anthony Marriott |
| 1978 | Ten Times Table | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1979 |
| 1979 | Middle-Age Spread | Roger Hall |
| 1979 | Clouds | Michael Frayn |
| 1979 | Outside Edge | Richard Harris |

### 1980s

| Year | Play | Writer |
| 1980 |
| 1980 | Educating Rita | Willy Russell |
| 1980 | Born in the Gardens | Peter Nichols |
| 1980 | Make and Break | Michael Frayn |
| 1980 | Sisterly Feelings | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1981 |
| 1981 | Steaming | Nell Dunn |
| 1981 | Anyone for Denis? | John Wells |
| 1981 | Can't Pay? Won't Pay! | Dario Fo |
| 1981 | On the Razzle | Tom Stoppard |
| 1982 |
| 1982 | Noises Off | Michael Frayn |
| 1982 | Key for Two | John Chapman and Dave Freeman |
| 1982 | Season's Greetings | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1982 | Trafford Tanzi | Claire Luckham |
| 1983 |
| 1983 | Daisy Pulls It Off | Denise Deegan |
| 1983 | Beethoven's Tenth | Peter Ustinov |
| 1983 | Run for Your Wife | Ray Cooney |
| 1983 | Woza Albert! | Barney Simon, Percy Mtwa and Mbongeni Ngema |
| 1984 |
| 1984 | Up 'n' Under | John Godber |
| 1984 | Gymslip Vicar | Cliff Hanger |
| 1984 | Intimate Exchanges | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1984 | Two into One | Ray Cooney |
| 1985 |
| 1985 | A Chorus of Disapproval | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1985 | Bouncers | John Godber |
| 1985 | Love's Labours Lost | William Shakespeare |
| 1985 | Pravda | Howard Brenton and David Hare |
| 1986 |
| 1986 | When We Are Married | J.B. Priestley |
| 1986 | Lend Me a Tenor | Ken Ludwig |
| 1986 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | William Shakespeare |
| 1986 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | William Shakespeare |
| 1987 |
| 1987 | Three Men on a Horse | John Cecil Holm and George Abbott |
| 1987 | Groucho: A Life in Revue | Arthur Marx and Robert Fisher |
| 1987 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | William Shakespeare |
| 1987 | Twelfth Night | William Shakespeare |
| 1988 |
| 1988 | Shirley Valentine | Willy Russell |
| 1988 | Henceforward... | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1988 | Separation | Tom Kempinski |
| 1988 | The Common Pursuit | Simon Gray |
| 1989/90 |
| 1989/90 | Single Spies | Alan Bennett |
| 1989/90 | Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell | Keith Waterhouse |
| 1989/90 | Some Americans Abroad | Richard Nelson |
| 1989/90 | Steel Magnolias | Robert Harling |

### 1990s

| Year | Play | Writer |
| 1991 |
| 1991 | Out of Order | Ray Cooney |
| 1991 | Gasping | Ben Elton |
| 1992 |
| 1992 | La Bête | David Hirson |
| 1992 | An Evening with Gary Lineker | Arthur Smith and Chris England |
| 1992 | It's Ralph | Hugh Whitemore |
| 1993 |
| 1993 | The Rise and Fall of Little Voice | Jim Cartwright |
| 1993 | Lost in Yonkers | Neil Simon |
| 1993 | On the Piste | John Godber |
| 1994 |
| 1994 | Hysteria | Terry Johnson |
| 1994 | April in Paris | John Godber |
| 1994 | The Life of Stuff | Simon Donald |
| 1994 | Time of My Life | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1995 |
| 1995 | My Night with Reg | Kevin Elyot |
| 1995 | Beautiful Thing | Jonathan Harvey |
| 1995 | Dead Funny | Terry Johnson |
| 1995 | Neville's Island | Tim Firth |
| 1996 |
| 1996 | Mojo | Jez Butterworth |
| 1996 | Communicating Doors | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 1996 | Funny Money | Ray Cooney |
| 1997 |
| 1997 | 'Art' | Yasmina Reza |
| 1997 | The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) | Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield |
| 1997 | Laughter on the 23rd Floor | Neil Simon |
| 1998 |
| 1998 | Popcorn | Ben Elton |
| 1998 | East is East | Ayub Khan-Din |
| 1998 | A Skull in Connemara | Martin McDonagh |
| 1999 |
| 1999 | Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick | Terry Johnson |
| 1999 | Alarms and Excursions | Michael Frayn |
| 1999 | Love Upon the Throne | Patrick Barlow, Martin Duncan and John Ramm |
| 1999 | Things We Do for Love | Alan Ayckbourn |

### 2000s

| Year | Play | Writer |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | The Memory of Water | Shelagh Stephenson |
| 2000 | Comic Potential | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 2000 | Quartet | Ronald Harwood |
| 2001 |
| 2001 | Stones in His Pockets | Marie Jones |
| 2001 | Cooking with Elvis | Lee Hall |
| 2001 | House/Garden | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 2001 | Peggy for You | Alan Plater |
| 2002 |
| 2002 | The Play What I Wrote | Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben |
| 2002 | Boston Marriage | David Mamet |
| 2002 | Caught in the Net | Ray Cooney |
| 2002 | Feelgood | Alistair Beaton |
| 2003 |
| 2003 | The Lieutenant of Inishmore | Martin McDonagh |
| 2003 | RolePlay | Alan Ayckbourn |
| 2003 | Dinner | Moira Buffini |
| 2003 | Lobby Hero | Kenneth Lonergan |
| 2006 |
| 2006 | Heroes | Gérald Sibleyras and Tom Stoppard |
| 2006 | Glorious! | Peter Quilter |
| 2006 | Shoot the Crow | Owen McCafferty |
| 2007 |
| 2007 | The 39 Steps | Patrick Barlow, Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon |
| 2007 | Don Juan in Soho | Patrick Marber |
| 2007 | Love Song | John Kolvenbach |
| 2008 |
| 2008 | Rafta, Rafta... | Bill Naughton and Ayub Khan-Din |
| 2008 | Absurdia: The Crimson Hotel | Michael Frayn |
| 2008 | Elling | Simon Bent |
| 2008 | Whipping It Up | Stephen Thompson |
| 2009 |
| 2009 | God of Carnage | Yasmina Reza |
| 2009 | Fat Pig | Neil LaBute |
| 2009 | The Female of the Species | Joanna Murray-Smith |

### 2010s

| Year | Play | Writer |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | The Priory | Michael Wynne |
| 2010 | Calendar Girls | Tim Firth |
| 2010 | England People Very Nice | Richard Bean |
| 2010 | Parlour Song | Jez Butterworth |
| 2014 |
| 2014 | Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense | Robert Goodale and David Goodale |
| 2014 | The Duck House | Dan Patterson and Colin Swash |
| 2014 | The Full Monty | Simon Beaufoy |
| 2014 | The Same Deep Water as Me | Nick Payne |
| 2015 |
| 2015 | The Play That Goes Wrong | Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis |
| 2015 | Handbagged | Moira Buffini |
| 2015 | Shakespeare in Love | Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard and Lee Hall |
| 2016 |
| 2016 | Nell Gwynn | Jessica Swale |
| 2016 | A Christmas Carol | Patrick Barlow |
| 2016 | Hand to God | Robert Askins |
| 2016 | Peter Pan Goes Wrong | Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis |
| 2017 |
| 2017 | Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour | Lee Hall |
| 2017 | The Comedy About a Bank Robbery | Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis |
| 2017 | Nice Fish | Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins |
| 2017 | The Truth | Florian Zeller in a version by Christopher Hampton |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Labour of Love | James Graham |
| 2018 | Dry Powder | Sarah Burgess |
| 2018 | Mischief Movie Night | Mischief Theatre |
| 2018 | The Miser | Molière in an adaptation by Sean Foley and Phil Porter |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | Home, I'm Darling | Laura Wade |
| 2019 | Nine Night | Natasha Gordon |
| 2019 | Quiz | James Graham |

### 2020s

| Year | Play | Writer |
| 2020 | Emilia | Morgan Lloyd Malcolm |
| 2020 | Fleabag | Phoebe Waller-Bridge |
| 2020 | Magic Goes Wrong | Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis |
| 2020 | The Upstart Crow | Ben Elton |
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 | Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) | Isobel McArthur |
| 2022 | The Choir of Man | Nic Doodson, Andrew Kay, Jack Blume, Ben Norris, Freddie Huddleston |
| 2022 | Pantoland at the Palladium | Michael Harrison |
| 2022 | The Shark Is Broken | Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw |
| 2023 |
| 2023 | My Neighbour Totoro | Tom Morton-Smith |
| 2023 | Jack and the Beanstalk | Michael Harrison |
| 2023 | My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?) | Rob Madge |
| 2023 | One Woman Show | Liz Kingsman |
| 2024 |
| 2024 | Stranger Things: The First Shadow | Kate Trefry |
| 2024 | Accidental Death of an Anarchist | Dario Fo & Franca Rame, adapted by Tom Basden |
| 2024 | Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends | Stephen Sondheim |
| 2024 | Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial | adapted by Liv Hennessy |
* 1 2 Due to late March 2020 to late July 2021 closing of London theatre productions during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2022 awards recognise productions that launched anytime from February 2020 to February 2022