The Critics' Circle is a professional association of British critics of dance, drama, film, music, visual arts and architecture. It was established in 1913 as an offshoot of the Society of Dramatic Critics, which had been formed six years earlier but had become inactive.
For many years the Circle refrained from granting awards, but in 1980 the critics from the Film section (aka the London Film Critics Circle) established the ALFS Awards to acknowledge special achievements in the cinema. In 1989 the Drama section organized the first of its Critics' Circle Theatre Awards ceremonies, but it was not until 2002 that Dance awards were presented, followed from 2011 with annual awards by the Music and the Visual Arts and Architecture sections.
In addition to these specific annual awards, since 1988 the Circle has presented the Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts, voted for by all members of the Circle. The award takes the form of an engraved crystal rose bowl presented at a celebratory luncheon which, in recent years, has been held at the National Theatre's Terrace restaurant.