A plethora of London’s theatre stars will be celebrating today as awards season gets underway with the announcement of the Evening Standard Theatre Awards nominations long list.
Among those to have made the first cut are Sherlock co-stars Benedict Cumberbatch (for After The Dance) and Martin Freeman (for Clybourne Park), film stars turned stage sirens Gemma Arterton (The Little Dog Laughed) and Keira Knightley (The Misanthrope), and London theatre regulars Roger Allam (Henry IV Parts 1 and 2), Simon Russell Beale (London Assurance and Deathtrap), Judi Dench (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Zoë Wanamaker (All My Sons).
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, the first prize-giving of the London theatre awards season, announces its long list for categories including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Play, Best Musical, Best Director, Best Design, Most Promising Playwright and Outstanding Newcomer, before whittling the nominees down to a short list on 21 November and finally a winner, crowned at a ceremony on 28 November.
Among the other nominees on the long list are 2010 Laurence Olivier Award-winning play Cock, which is one of four Royal Court productions – alongside Clybourne Park, Posh and Sucker Punch – nominated for Best Play.
Composer Galt MacDermot has two shows – The Human Comedy and Hair – nominated in the Best Musical category, where they face off against Legally Blonde The Musical, Les Misérables (2010), Passion and Sweet Charity.
A trio of London’s Artistic Directors – Dominic Cooke (Royal Court), Michael Grandage (Donmar Warehouse) and Nicholas Hytner (National Theatre) – are among the talent represented in a directors’ category that also includes Rupert Goold (Romeo And Juliet/Earthquakes In London), Roger Michell (Rope) and Thea Sharrock (After The Dance).
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, which are judged by a panel of theatre critics working with the newspaper’s Deputy Editor Sarah Sands and chairman Evgeny Lebedev, herald the beginning of a theatre awards season that also includes the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards and Critics’ Circle Awards, culminating in the Laurence Olivier Awards, London theatre’s most prestigious accolade.
MA
Full Evening Standard Theatre Award Nominees Long List:
Best Actor
Roger Allam for Henry IV Parts One and Two (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Bertie Carvel for Rope (Almeida theatre)
Benedict Cumberbatch for After The Dance (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Martin Freeman for Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Alex Jennings for The Habit Of Art (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Rory Kinnear for Measure For Measure (Almeida theatre) and Hamlet (National Theatre, Olivier)
Adrian Lester for Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (Novello theatre)
Alfred Molina for Red (Donmar Warehouse)
Jonathan Pryce for The Caretaker (Trafalgar Studio 1)
Simon Russell Beale for London Assurance (National Theatre, Olivier) and Deathtrap (Noël Coward theatre)
Adrian Scarborough for After The Dance (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
David Suchet for All My Sons (Apollo theatre)
The Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress
Gemma Arterton for The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick theatre)
Nancy Carroll for After The Dance (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Judi Dench for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose theatre, Kingston)
Tamsin Greig for The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick theatre)
Jenny Jules for Ruined (Almeida theatre)
Keira Knightley for The Misanthrope (Comedy theatre)
Amanda Lawrence for Jiggery Pokery (BAC) and Henry VIII (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Rosaleen Linehan for The Beauty Queen Of Leenane (Young Vic)
Helen McCrory for The Late Middle Classes (Donmar Warehouse)
Lesley Manville for Six Degrees Of Separation (Old Vic)
Anna Maxwell Martin for Measure For Measure (Almeida theatre)
Elena Roger for Passion (Donmar Warehouse)
Fiona Shaw for London Assurance (National Theatre, Olivier)
Sheridan Smith for Legally Blonde The Musical (Savoy theatre)
Sophie Thompson for Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Zoë Wanamaker for All My Sons (Apollo theatre)
Best Play
Cock by Mike Bartlett (Royal Court)
The Big Fellah by Richard Bean (Lyric Hammersmith)
The Habit Of Art by Alan Bennett (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Beautiful Burnout by Bryony Lavery (York Hall)
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris (Royal Court)
Ruined by Lynn Nottage (Almeida theatre)
Posh by Laura Wade (Royal Court)
Sucker Punch by Roy Williams (Royal Court)
The Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical
Hair (Gielgud theatre)
The Human Comedy (A Young Vic/The Opera Group production co-produced with Watford Palace theatre)
Legally Blonde The Musical (Savoy theatre)
Les Misérables (2010) (Cameron Mackintosh production at the Barbican theatre)
Passion (Donmar Warehouse)
Sweet Charity (Menier Chocolate Factory; transferred to Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Best Director
Dominic Cooke for Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Howard Davies for The White Guard (National Theatre, Lyttelton) and All My Sons (Apollo theatre)
Rupert Goold for Romeo And Juliet (RSC Stratford) and Earthquakes In London (National Theatre, Cottesloe)
Michael Grandage for Red (Donmar Warehouse) and Danton’s Death (National theatre, Olivier)
Jeremy Herrin for Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)
Joe Hill-Gibbins for The Beauty Queen Of Leenane (Young Vic)
Nicholas Hytner for The Habit Of Art (National Theatre, Lyttelton), London Assurance (National Theatre, Olivier) and Hamlet (National Theatre, Olivier)
James MacDonald for Cock (Royal Court)
Roger Michell for Rope (Almeida theatre)
Laurie Sansom for Beyond The Horizon and Spring Storm (both National Theatre, Cottesloe)
Thea Sharrock for After The Dance (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Lyndsey Turner for Posh (Royal Court)
Best Design
Lez Brotherston for The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice (Vaudeville theatre), Measure For Measure (Almeida theatre), Women Beware Women (National Theatre, Olivier) and Design For Living (Old Vic)
Miriam Buether for Sucker Punch (Royal Court) and Earthquakes In London (National Theatre, Cottesloe)
Bunny Christie for The White Guard (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Rob Howell for Private Lives (Vaudeville theatre) and Deathtrap (Noël Coward theatre)
Vicki Mortimer for The Cat In The Hat (National Theatre, Cottesloe; transferred to Young Vic)
Christopher Oram for Passion and Red (both Donmar Warehouse)
Mark Thompson for London Assurance (National Theatre, Olivier)
The Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright
James Graham for The Whisky Taster (Bush theatre) and The Man (Finborough theatre)
DC Moore for The Empire (Royal Court)
Nick Payne for If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Bush theatre) and Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Anya Reiss for Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)
Atiha Sen Gupta for What Fatima Did (Hampstead theatre)
Penelope Skinner for Eigengrau (Bush theatre)
The Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer
You Me Bum Bum Train, created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd (LEB Building, E2)
Melanie Chisholm, for her performance in Blood Brothers (Phoenix theatre)
Laura Dos Santos, for her performance in Educating Rita (Menier Chocolate Factory, transferred to Trafalgar Studios)
Simon Godwin, for his direction of Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Daniel Kaluuya, for his performance in Sucker Punch (Royal Court)
Isabella Laughland, for her performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Henry Lloyd-Hughes, for his performances in Rope (Almeida theatre) and Posh (Royal Court)
James Mcardle, for his performance in Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)
James Musgrave, for his performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Nikesh Patel, for his performance in Disconnect (Royal Court)
Shannon Tarbet, for her performance in Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)