The Donmar Warehouse has been honoured by a second awards ceremony today, with its production of A Streetcar Named Desire picking up the Theatre Award at the last ever South Bank Show Awards.
The win came shortly after the Donmar Warehouse scooped three prizes at the Critics’ Circle Awards, which were also announced this afternoon. Rachel Weisz, who played Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’s play, left the Prince of Wales theatre shortly after receiving her Best Actress award from the critics to join her fellow Streetcar cast members and director Rob Ashford at the Dorchester Hotel, where the South Bank Show Awards were presented.
Commenting on the awards, Donmar Artistic Director Michael Grandage said: “2009 was undoubtedly one of the most important years in the Donmar’s history and I am delighted Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire and Red have all been recognised in four separate awards today. These productions represent our commitment to deliver work of the highest quality and to engage with as many people as possible. It is wonderful to have our work honoured in this way.”
Also at the South Bank Show Awards, English National Opera’s production of Peter Grimes triumphed in the Opera section. Playwright Lucy Prebble, who was nominated for the Breakthrough Award, missed out to artist David Blandy.
This year’s ceremony marks the final South Bank Show Awards, as the Melvyn Bragg-hosted ITV arts programme recently broadcast its last show.
The South Bank Show Awards will be aired this Sunday on ITV1.
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