Amber Riley, Andrew Garfield and Glenda Jackson were amongst the winners of the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2017, which were announced at a ceremony last night at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
The evening largely belonged to Jez Butterworth’s epic new play The Ferryman, which scooped three of the four awards for which it was nominated. Butterworth was honoured for Best Play, marking his third Award (after wins in 1995 and 2009), while Sam Mendes picked up Best Director and Tom Glynn-Carney took home the Emerging Talent Award.
Amber Riley – who performed at last year’s ceremony – won the award for Best Musical Performance for her role in Dreamgirls, in which she ended her run last month, whilst the Best Musical nod, decided by a public vote, went to Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical, set to return to the West End in April of next year.
Garfield beat off stiff competition from Bertie Carvel and Andrew Scott to claim Best Actor for Angels In America, while Glenda Jackson was awarded Best Actress for her role in King Lear at The Old Vic, triumphing over fellow nominees Laura Donnelly (for The Ferryman) and Victoria Hamilton (for Albion).
The annual awards, marking their 63rd year, were co-hosted by the newspaper’s owner, Evgeny Lebedev, along with American Vogue editor-in-chief, Dame Anna Wintour, star of stage and screen Cate Blanchett, and Hamilton creator and original star Lin-Manuel Miranda. The on-stage host for the evening was Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Evening Standard Theatre Award winners 2017:
Best Actor: Andrew Garfield (Angels In America, National Theatre)
Best Actress: Glenda Jackson (King Lear, The Old Vic)
Best Musical Performance: Amber Riley (Dreamgirls)
Best Play: The Ferryman
Best Director: Sam Mendes (The Ferryman)
Best Design: Bunny Christie (Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle / Ink (both West End) / The Red Barn, National Theatre)
Most Promising Playwright: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (An Octoroon, Orange Tree Theatre)
Emerging Talent Award: Tom Glynn-Carney (The Ferryman)
Best Musical: Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical