Productions from the Royal Court dominate the Evening Standard Theatre Awards shortlist, appearing in all but two categories.
The Court’s much-acclaimed new plays Jerusalem and Enron, by Jez Butterworth and Lucy Prebble, which both transfer to the West End in 2010, face off against each other in three separate categories; Best Actor (Mark Rylance and Samuel West), Best Director (Ian Rickson and Rupert Goold) and Best Play.
Jerusalem’s designer Ultz also receives a nod in the Best Design category, while the Royal Court’s Tusk Tusk collects nominations for Best Newcomer (Bel Powley) and Best Director (Jeremy Herrin). The Court also dominates the Most Promising Playwright category, where its writers Alia Bano (Shades) and Alexi Kaye Campbell (The Pride) face The Mountaintop writer Katori Hall.
The Royal Court faces stiff competition from the National Theatre’s August: Osage County (Best Play, Best Actress, Best Director) and the Lyric Hammersmith’s Punk Rock (Best Play, Best Newcomer).
Among the other performers to survive the cull from last week’s long list announcement are Simon Russell Beale, Ken Stott, Deanna Dunagan, Penny Downie, Juliet Stevenson, Rachel Weisz and Lenny Henry. High profile performers including David Tennant, Kevin Spacey and Ian McKellen have slipped out of contention.
The Best Musical category will be fought between two revivals, A Little Night Music and Hello, Dolly!, and two new productions, Been So Long and Spring Awakening.
The Evening Standard Theatre Award winners will be announced at a ceremony held at the Royal Opera House on 23 November. They are the first awards of London theatre’s awards season, which also includes the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, Critics’ Circle Awards and the Laurence Olivier Awards, London theatre’s most coveted prize.
MA
Full shortlist:
Best Play
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts (Steppenwolf/National Theatre)
Enron by Lucy Prebble (Royal Court)
Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth (Royal Court)
Punk Rock by Simon Stephens (Lyric Hammersmith)
Best Actor
Simon Russell Beale for The Winter’s Tale (Old Vic)
Mark Rylance for Jerusalem (Royal Court)
Ken Stott for A View From The Bridge (Duke of York’s theatre)
Samuel West for Enron (Royal Court)
The Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress
Deanna Dunagan for August: Osage County (Steppenwolf/National Theatre)
Penny Downie for Helen (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Juliet Stevenson for Duet For One (Almeida theatre/Vaudeville theatre)
Rachel Weisz for A Streetcar Named Desire (Donmar Warehouse)
Best Director
Rupert Goold for Enron (Royal Court)
Jeremy Herrin for Tusk Tusk (Royal Court)
Ian Rickson for Jerusalem (Royal Court)
Anna D Shapiro for August: Osage County (Steppenwolf/National Theatre)
The Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical
A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory/Garrick theatre)
Been So Long (Young Vic)
Hello, Dolly! (Open Air theatre, Regent’s Park)
Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith/Novello theatre)
Best Design
Jon Bausor for Kursk (Young Vic)
Miriam Buether for Judgment Day (Almeida theatre)
Mamoru Iriguchi for Mincemeat (Cardboard Citizens/Cordy House, Shoreditch)
Ultz for Jerusalem (Royal Court)
The Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright
Alia Bano for Shades (Royal Court)
Katori Hall for The Mountaintop (Theatre 503/Trafalgar Studios)
Alexi Kaye Campbell for The Pride (Royal Court) and Apologia (Bush theatre)
The Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer
Naana Agyei-Ampadu for Been So Long (Young Vic)
Lenny Henry for Othello (Northern Broadsides at Trafalgar Studios)
Bel Powley for Tusk Tusk (Royal Court)
Tom Sturridge for Punk Rock (Lyric Hammersmith)