| Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play | |
| Awarded For: | Best New Comedy |
| Presenter: | Society of London Theatre |
| Year: | 1976 |
| Holder: | (2024) |
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.
| Year | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ||
| Donkeys' Years | Michael Frayn | |
| The Bed Before Yesterday | Ben Travers | |
| Confusions | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| Funny Peculiar | Mike Stott | |
| 1977 | ||
| Privates on Parade | Peter Nichols | |
| Bedroom Farce | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| Once a Catholic | Mary O'Malley | |
| The Kingfisher | William Douglas-Home | |
| 1978 | ||
| Filumena | Eduardo De Filippo, Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall | |
| Shut Your Eyes and Think of England | John Chapman and Anthony Marriott | |
| Ten Times Table | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| 1979 | ||
| Middle-Age Spread | Roger Hall | |
| Clouds | Michael Frayn | |
| Outside Edge | Richard Harris |
| Year | Play | Writer |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Emilia | Morgan Lloyd Malcolm |
| Fleabag | Phoebe Waller-Bridge | |
| Magic Goes Wrong | Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis | |
| The Upstart Crow | Ben Elton | |
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 2022 | Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) | Isobel McArthur |
| The Choir of Man | Nic Doodson, Andrew Kay, Jack Blume, Ben Norris, Freddie Huddleston | |
| Pantoland at the Palladium | Michael Harrison | |
| The Shark Is Broken | Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw | |
| 2023 | ||
| My Neighbour Totoro | Tom Morton-Smith | |
| Jack and the Beanstalk | Michael Harrison | |
| My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?) | Rob Madge | |
| One Woman Show | Liz Kingsman | |
| 2024 | ||
| Kate Trefry | ||
| Accidental Death of an Anarchist | Dario Fo & Franca Rame, adapted by Tom Basden | |
| Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends | Stephen Sondheim | |
| Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial | adapted by Liv Hennessy |