Theater News

Mendes, Beale, and Higgins Among Winners at 27th Annual Olivier Awards Ceremony


The 27th Annual Laurence Olivier Awards were distributed at a lunchtime ceremony held at the Lyceum Theatre yesterday.

One of the biggest winners was Sam Mendes, who received a total of three awards for his revivals of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse — both productions now playing at BAM in New York — and an award recognizing his 10 years as artistic director at the Donmar Warehouse. Mendes directed the 1998 Roundabout Broadway revival of Cabaret and is currently working on a revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters, et to open on Broadway this spring. Mendes’s awards were presented to him at BAM on Wednesday night

Simon Russell Beale was honored for his performance in Mendes’s Twelfth Night, which he is now recreating in New York. Claire Higgins, who was named Best Actress for her role in Vincent in Brixton, is currently playing that role on Broadway. Vincent in Brixton received the BBC Award for Best New Play, while Our House received the Hilton Award for Best New Musical. Trevor Nunn’s Anything Goes at the National Theatre took the prize for Best Musical Production and Matthew Bourne’s Play Without Words won the award for Best Entertainment.

The complete list of Olivier nominees is below; the winner in each category is in bold.

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Best Actress
Anita Dobson, Frozen at the Cottesloe
Clare Higgins, Vincent in Brixton at the Cottesloe and Wyndham’s
Gwyneth Paltrow, Proof at the Donmar Warehouse
Emily Watson, Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse.

Best Actor
Michael Gambon, A Number at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court
Simon Russell Beale, Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse
Mark Rylance, Twelfth Night at Shakespeare’s Globe
David Tennant, Lobby Hero at the Donmar Warehouse and New Ambassadors

Best Performance in a Supporting Role
Essie Davis, A Streetcar Named Desire, at the Lyttelton
Jessica Stevenson, The Night Heron at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court
Mark Strong, Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse
Sian Thomas, Up For Grabs at Wyndham’s

The BBC Award For Best New Play
Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, by Stephen Adly Guirgis at the Donmar Warehouse
The Coast of Utopia – Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage, by Tom Stoppard at the Olivier
The York Realist, by Peter Gill at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court and the Strand
Vincent in Brixton, by Nicholas Wright at the Cottesloe and Wyndham’s

Best New Comedy
Damsels in Distress – Roleplay by Alan Ayckbourn at the Duchess
Dinner, by Moira Buffini at The Loft
Lobby Hero, by Kenneth Lonergan at the Donmar Warehouse and New Ambassadors
The Lieutenant of Inishmore, by Martin McDonagh at The Pit and the Garrick

Best Revival
Abigail’s Party, by Mike Leigh at the New Ambassadors
A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams at the Lyttelton
Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare and Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, a version of the play by Brian Friel, in repertory at the Donmar Warehouse
Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare at Shakespeare’s Globe

The Hilton Award for Best New Musical
Bombay Dreams, music by A R Rahman, lyrics by Don Black, book by Meera Syal based on an idea by Shekhar Kapur and Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Apollo Victoria
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, music and lyrics by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman, adapted for the stage by Jeremy Sams, based on the MGM/United Artists Motion Picture at the London Palladium
Our House, by Tim Firth, music and lyrics by Madness at the Cambridge
Taboo, music and lyrics by Boy George, book by Mark Davies at The Venue

Outstanding Musical Production
Anything Goes, music and lyrics by Cole Porter, original book by PG Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse, new book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman at the Olivier
Oh What a Lovely War, Joan Littlewood’s musical entertainment by Theatre Workshop, Charles Chilton, Gerry Raffles and Members of the Original Cast at the Open Air

Best Entertainment
Contact, by Susan Stroman and John Weidman at the Queen’s
Elaine Stritch At Liberty, constructed by John Lahr, reconstructed by Elaine Stritch at The Old Vic
Play Without Words, devised by Matthew Bourne, music by Terry Davies at the Lyttelton
Rory Bremner With John Bird and John Fortune at the Albery

Best Actress in a Musical or Entertainment
Janie Dee, My One And Only at the Piccadilly
Joanna Riding, My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Elaine Stritch, Elaine Stritch At Liberty at The Old Vic
Sarah Wildor, Contact at the Queen’s

Best Actor in a Musical or Entertainment
Tim Flavin for My One And Only at the Piccadilly
Alex Jennings for My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Michael Jibson, Our House at the Cambridge
Euan Morton, Taboo at The Venue

Best Director
Paul Baker, Taboo at The Venue
Sharon D Clarke, We Will Rock You at the Dominion
Jenny Galloway, My One And Only at the Piccadilly
Nichola McAuliffe, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium
Craig Urbani, Contact at the Queen’s

Best Director
Matthew Bourne, Play Without Words at the Lyttelton
Richard Eyre, Vincent in Brixton at the Cottesloe
Edward Hall, Rose Rage at the Haymarket
Sam Mendes, Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya in repertory at the Donmar Warehouse

Best Theatre Choreographer
Matthew Bourne and the Company, Play Without Words at the Lyttelton
Peter Darling, Our House at the Cambridge
Craig Revel Horwood, My One And Only at the Piccadilly
Susan Stroman, Contact at the Queen’s

Best Set Design
A Streetcar Named Desire, designed by Bunny Christie at the Lyttelton
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, designed by Anthony Ward at the London Palladium
Play Without Words, designed by Lez Brotherston at the Lyttelton
The Coast of Utopia – Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage, designed by William Dudley at the Olivier

Best Costume Design
Bombay Dreams, designed by Mark Thompson at the Apollo Victoria
Taboo, designed by Mike Nicholls at The Venue
The Coast of Utopia – Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage, designed by William Dudley at the Olivier
Twelfth Night, designed by Jenny Tiramani at Shakespeare’s Globe

Best Lighting Design
A Streetcar Named Desire, designed by Paul Pyant at the Lyttelton
Play Without Words, designed by Paule Constable at the Lyttelton
The Bacchai, designed by Peter Mumford at the Olivier
The Coast of Utopia – Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage, designed by David Hersey at the Olivier

Best New Opera Production
The Royal Opera’s Ariadne Auf Naxos at the Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung at the Royal Opera House
English National Opera’s Lulu at the London Coliseum
The Royal Opera’s Wozzeck at the Royal Opera House

Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu for their performances in the Royal Opera’s La Rondine at the Royal Opera House
Antonio Pappano for a distinguished opening to his tenure as Music Director of The Royal Opera with Ariadne Auf Naxos and Wozzeck at the Royal Opera House
Lisa Saffer for her performance in English National Opera’s Lulu at the London Coliseum

Best New Dance Production

Danses Concertantes’ Polyphonia at Sadler’s Wells
Rosas’ Rain at Sadler’s Wells
Rennie Harris Puremovement’s Rome and Jewels at the Peacock Theatre
The Royal Ballet’s Tryst at the Royal Opera House

Outstanding Achievement in Dance
The company of Kontakthof presented by Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal at the Barbican
Chiaki Nagao for her performance in Northern Ballet Theatre’s Madame Butterfly at Sadler’s Wells
Robyn Orlin for the creative originality of Daddy, I’ve Seen This Piece Six Times and I Still Don’t Know Why They’re Hurting Each Other at The Pit
Christopher Wheeldon for his choreography of The Royal Ballet’s Tryst at the Royal Opera House and New York City Ballet’s Polyphonia at Sadler’s Wells

Most Promising Performer

Noel Clarke for Where Do We Live at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
Toby Dantzic for Where Do We Live at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
Sam Heughan for Outlying Islands at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
Sid Mitchell for The Dead Eye Boy at Hampstead Theatre

Most Promising Playwright
Charlotte Eilenberg for The Lucky Ones at Hampstead Theatre
Christopher Shinn for Where Do We Live at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court

Outstanding Achievement of the Year
Gregory Doran and the acting ensemble for the Jacobean season at the Gielgud.

The Society’s Special Award
Sam Mendes, for his 10 years as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse.