Tabard theatre’s in-house productions shortlisted for seven Standing Ovation awards in London Pub Theatres Awards

The Railway Children; Theatre at the Tabard; Photograph Matt Hunter

Five in-house productions and two visiting productions nominated for awards

The Tabard theatre in Chiswick is celebrating the news that five of their in-house productions have been short-listed for a total of seven awards at this year’s London Pub Theatres Awards Standing Ovation awards.

Two more productions associated with the Tabard have also been listed, both visiting productions, one which was performed at the Tabard earlier this year and another which is coming to the theatre next February.

Round About Hogarth, written and directed by Chiswick resident Gareth Armstrong

Shortlisted for Outstanding Production Values, New Writing, Revival and Adaptation awards, Actor and Ensemble awards

The in-house productions which have been nominated for awards are:

• The Railway Children, nominated for the Outstanding Production Values Award and the Adaptation Award
• Round About Hogarth, nominated for the New Writing Award and the Actor Award for a Two Hander
• HMS Pinafore, also nominated for the Adaptation Award
• Dead Guilty, nominated for the Revival Award
• Who Put the Bomp?, their current production, nominated for the Ensemble Award

Mark Stratford in Orwell: The Road to 1984; photograph Martin Smith, origin8photography

The visiting productions nominated for awards are

• Masterclass
• Orwell: The Road to 1984

Simon and Sarah are very pleased with their crop of nominations:

“We’re thrilled to see so much of the talent and creativity on our stage recognised once again”.

The Snow Queen

Great Christmas family shows

The Tabard has a strong tradition of producing Christmas shows in-house. The Snow Queen, The Secret Garden and another E Nesbit story Five Children and It have all been wonderful productions.

Last year’s production The Snow Queen won the award for Outstanding Production Values at the 2025 London Pub Theatre awards, and was partly responsible for them winning  the top prize: London Pub Theatre of the Year 2025.

READ ALSO: The Railway Children – Theatre at the Tabard review

The Railway Children was also an excellent show. The Chiswick Calendar’s theatre reviewer Simon Thomsett wrote at the time:

‘In recent years, the Tabard theatre has established a reputation for high quality Christmas family shows that offer entertaining alternatives to Pantomime and their latest, The Railway Children may well be the best yet’.

From left to right: Anya Burlton (Phyllis); Emma Rowe (Bobbie); Christopher Laishley (Mr Szczepanksky); Jay Oplin (standing, Perks); Max Pascoe (Peter).

‘Simon Reilly’s clever direction builds to enjoyably big moments at the end of each act. He keeps things moving along with simple set changes, allowing the story to nip along without ever sagging and convincingly showing everything from the childrens’ point of view’.

(L) Miles Richardson as David Garrick; (R) Terence Frisch as William Hogarth

Encouraging new writing

Simon and Sarah, life-partners as well as partners in running the theatre, have also built up a reputation for encouraging new writing. For me, Gareth Armstrong’s play about the relationship between William Hogarth and David Garrick was one of the year’s highlights.

‘Armstrong’s restrained direction of his own script which gives the characters space to breath and pull us into this snapshot of a friendship of two masters’, Simon Thomsett wrote in the review:

READ ALSO: Round About Hogarth – Theatre at the Tabard review

READ ALSO: William Hogarth and David Garrick – the painter and the actor

‘Garrick is refined, “equable” by his own reckoning and slightly pompous. writes Simon. Actor Miles Richardson ‘brings gravitas to the role’.

Hogarth is ‘a stern moralist… Frisch plays him as a man with a tendency toward self-importance but with an equal capacity for empathetic warmth below the surface as he endures the gentle put downs from his friend who calls him a “crabby old stick” with good humour’.

John Griffiths as Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore

Building a strong tradition of musical theatre

Another strand Simon and Sarah have developed and built on in the past few years is productions of Gilbert and Sullivan. This year’s production of HMS Pinafore followed on from the success of The Mikado last year, part of a fine tradition of inventive Gilbert and Sullivan revivals going back to Ruddigore in 2011.

READ ALSO: HMS Pinafore – Theatre at the Tabard review

Director of both The Mikado and HMS Pinafore, Keith Strachan, is also behind the current production Who Put the Bomp?

‘One thing Strachan does really well is put together impressive vocal ensembles’, said Simon, writing about HMS Pinafore.

HMS Pinafore full cast

Who Put the Bomp? follows Billy Johnson, a shy teenager obsessed with the records his grandfather loved, who forms a doo wop group, The Doo Woppers, with his friends and the help of their music teacher, Miss McTavish.

READ ALSO: Who Put The Bomp? – Theatre at the Tabard review

As the group becomes more popular, friendships are tested and a few secrets come out. With an enthusiastic young cast and irresistible music, this is also receiving very good reviews. It’s on until 7 November.

Compelling dramas

The Tabard’s bread and butter is dramas – whether one person shows, two-handers or small casts, making the most of the tiny space.

READ ALSO: Dead Guilty – Theatre at the Tabard review

Dead Guilty, nominated for the best Revival Award, saw a return to the stage of one of Richard Harris’s plays from 1994, a slow burn psychological thriller, ‘with a lot of class’, wrote Simon, directed by Nick Bromley and produced by Take Note Theatre.

Charlotte Hunter as Julia Darrow in Dead Guilty

Masterclass explores the relationship between one (possibly) on his way up, and the other (definitely) on the way down in their careers.

READ ALSO: Masterclass – Theatre at the Tabard review

When it was on in June, Simon wrote:

‘Two handers inevitably stand or fall on the quality of their performers and in this case, Director Luke Adamson is well served… This transfer from South London’s Bridge House Theatre, sits very comfortably in the Tabard and will likely give them another hit’.

Masterclass actors Alex Dee and Kurt Lucas

Orwell: The Road to 1984, adapted and directed by Guy Smith, and performed by Mark Stratford, is coming to the Tabard Theatre in February 2027 for three performances. It has been very well reviewed.

The play tells the compelling story of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and the extraordinary personal experiences that inspired his famous novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Mark Stratford; photograph Martin Smith, origin8photography

‘These classic tales which warn of the dangers of totalitarianism – erosion of free speech, abuse of power, increasing control of all aspects of our lives – resonate now more than ever’ say the producers.

‘Orwell’s dystopian concepts such as “Big Brother is watching you”, “Room 101” and “thought crime” have become everyday phrases’.

The winners will be announced in an award ceremony on Sunday 29 November.