It was vital that theatre reached out and engaged with a broader audience, Mr Ken O'Hara, chief executive of the ESB, told the audience at The Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Awards presentation ceremony in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin, on Sunday.
"Your gifts are rare, and precious, and they should be shared with as many as possible," he said.
A vibrant theatre world had the capacity to uplift society, Mr O'Hara added. "The return to you, in terms of appreciation of your art, would be enormous, but more importantly our society would be enriched by the incomparable pleasure that live performance brings to those who experience it."
Because of this important value to society, the theatre world needed to be encouraged and supported by the State, its institutions and the corporate sector.
He said the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, had been particularly supportive, as had the Arts Council through a major review it was conducting.
Mr O'Hara said he was delighted to see new theatre venues opening, such as the Project in Dublin, the Pavilion in Dun Laoghaire, Draiocht in Blanchardstown, the O'Reilly Theatre at Belvedere College and the Briery Gap in Macroom.
The past year was one of the most successful for Irish theatre companies abroad, with notable achievements by the Gate in London and the US, by the Abbey in the West End and at the Edinburgh International Festival, and by Druid at the Washington Festival, Mr O'Hara said.
He noted that the Lyric's Stones in His Pockets, winner of last year's best production award, had had a "phenomenal" 12 months. It was currently running in the West End and Toronto, and would shortly go to Broadway. "These successes make a very strong statement about the strength and vitality of Irish theatre," he said.
Mr O'Hara said The Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Awards recognised the important role theatre played in cultural and social life.
"It is also an occasion which enables you, the people who bring theatre to audiences at home and abroad, to come together to celebrate the successes of your professions in the past year."
Mr Gerry Smyth, managing editor of The Irish Times, said theatre and the media had common purposes. "We both tell stories, describe our lives and try to make sense of them."
Irish theatre had been well served in this endeavour by good writers, directors, actors, designers, theatre companies and theatre managers, he said. "The New York Times was therefore correct to make the point that these Irish theatre awards have prospered because the ground was already fertile."
He said The Irish Times and the ESB as sponsors were delighted by the way the theatre world had embraced the awards as a means of honouring its achievements.
Mr Smyth announced the inclusion of opera in some of the awards categories from this year. "Many of you, particularly directors and those in the craft and technical areas, apply your skills and talents to opera as well as drama," he said.
The number of new venues opening up had made the task for the judges more difficult. Without the commitment and enthusiasm of this year's judges - Rose Parkinson, Una Carmody and Fergus Linehan - the awards could not be sustained.