James McAvoy, Ralph Fiennes and Nicole Kidman are among the performers nominated at this year’s London Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
McAvoy (The Ruling Class) and Fiennes (Man And Superman) will fight it out alongside Simon Russell Beale (Temple) and Kenneth Cranham (The Father) for the prestigious Best Actor prize.
Kidman, who is nominated for her current portrayal of Rosalind Franklin in Photograph 51, is joined in the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress category by Denise Gough (People, Places And Things), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Nell Gwynn) and Lia Williams (Oresteia).
The National Theatre has taken the unofficial title of most nominated venue receiving seven nods, with the Royal Court and Donmar Warehouse in second and third place, claiming five and four nominations respectively.
Among the musical performers recognised in the 2015 shortlist are Killian Donnelly (Kinky Boots), who faces opposition from an otherwise all-female contingent comprising Katie Brayben (Beautiful – The Carole King Musical), Rosalie Craig (City Of Angels) and UK Theatre Award winner Imelda Staunton (Gypsy) in the Best Musical Performance category.
Made In Dagenham star Gemma Arterton has also found a place on the shortlist, nominated alongside High Society’s Ellie Bamber and Bend It Like Beckham The Musical’s Natalie Dew in a new category recognising musical theatre newcomers.
In the hotly contested Best Play category, Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Motherf**ker With The Hat faces competition from current West End hit, Florian Zeller’s The Father, and its forthcoming Wyndham’s Theatre replacement, Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen.
The Motherf**ker With The Hat’s director Indhu Rubasingham is also nominated for her work on the National Theatre hit, battling it out for the Milton Shulman Award for Best Director alongside Oresteia’s Robert Icke and Assassins’ Jamie Lloyd.
Lloyd’s nomination is one of two for his acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory production of the Stephen Sondheim musical, as Assassins fights it out against Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, Bend It Like Beckham The Musical, Gypsy and Kinky Boots for the public-voted Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical.
Six individuals are recognised as emerging talent in the 2015 nominations. Playwrights Molly Davies (God Bless The Child), Alistair McDowall (Pomona) and Diana Nneka Atuona (Liberian Girl) all receive nominations for the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright, while performers Calvin Demba (The Red Lion), Patsy Ferran (Treasure Island) and David Moorst (Violence And Son) are up for the Emerging Talent Award in Partnership with Burberry.
Completing the shortlist, the Best Design category sees the Donmar Warehouse go head to head against the Royal Court, with the Covent Garden venue receiving two nominations – for Temple’s Tim Hatley and City Of Angels’ Robert Jones – alongside the Sloane Square venue with one, in the form of Hangmen’s Anna Fleischle.
The London Evening Standard Theatre Awards will take place on 22 November at The Old Vic. Presented by former Future Conditional star Rob Brydon alongside co-hosts Evgeny Lebedev, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, the ceremony will be the 61st in the newspaper’s history and mark the start of an exciting theatre awards season that will culminate in April 2016 with the 40th anniversary of the illustrious Olivier Awards with MasterCard.
Full 2015 shortlist for the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards:
Best Actor
Simon Russell Beale for Temple, Donmar Warehouse
Kenneth Cranham for The Father, Ustinov Studio Bath, Tricycle Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
Ralph Fiennes for Man And Superman, National Theatre
James McAvoy for The Ruling Class, Trafalgar Studios
Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress
Denise Gough for People, Places And Things, National Theatre
Nicole Kidman for Photograph 51, Noël Coward Theatre
Gugu Mbatha-Raw for Nell Gwynn, Shakespeare’s Globe
Lia Williams for Oresteia, Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Best Play
The Motherf**ker With The Hat (Stephen Adly Guirgis), National Theatre
Hangmen (Martin McDonagh), Royal Court
The Father (Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton), Ustinov Studio Bath, Tricycle Theatre & Wyndham’s Theatre
Milton Shulman Award for Best Director
Robert Icke for Oresteia, Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Jamie Lloyd for Assassins, Menier Chocolate Factory
Indhu Rubasingham for The Motherf**ker With The Hat, National Theatre
Best Design
Anna Fleischle for Hangmen, Royal Court
Tim Hatley for Temple, Donmar Warehouse
Robert Jones for City Of Angels, Donmar Warehouse
Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright
Molly Davies for God Bless The Child, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
Alistair McDowall for Pomona, Orange Tree Theatre & National Theatre’s Temporary Theatre
Diana Nneka Atuona for Liberian Girl, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court (Peckham & Tottenham pop-up venues)
Emerging Talent Award in Partnership with Burberry
Calvin Demba for The Red Lion, National Theatre
Patsy Ferran for Treasure Island, National Theatre
David Moorst for Violence And Son, Royal Court
Best Musical Performance
Katie Brayben for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, Aldwych Theatre
Rosalie Craig for City Of Angels, Donmar Warehouse
Killian Donnelly for Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre
Imelda Staunton for Gypsy, Savoy Theatre
Newcomer in a Musical
Gemma Arterton for Made In Dagenham, Adelphi Theatre
Ellie Bamber for High Society, The Old Vic
Natalie Dew for Bend It Like Beckham The Musical, Phoenix Theatre
Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical
Assassins, Menier Chocolate Factory
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, Aldwych Theatre
Bend It Like Beckham The Musical, Phoenix Theatre
Gypsy, Savoy Theatre
Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre