SOUTHAMPTON’S producing theatre has been crowned Regional Theatre of the Year at a top awards ceremony in London.

Nuffield was recognised for productions such as Tonight at 8.30, a mammoth staging of Noël Coward's entire cycle of nine one-act plays.

The judges also praised the ingenuity behind the pop-up stage/football pitch hybrid, created to perform Southampton FC drama The Saints.

Director Sam Hodges said the award was a “wonderful endorsement of all the hard work the company has put in over the last year”.

He said: “From pop-up football stadiums to locking actors in glass cubes, it was a year of trying things out, of adventure, ambition and risk, and to be recognised for it by The Stage is very important to us.”