A View From The Bridge, The Nether and Gypsy, which will all transfer to the West End in the coming weeks and months, will start their Theatreland runs on the back of wins at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2014.
Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge, which was revived at the Young Vic last year, was honoured with two awards. Mark Strong, on his return to the London stage, collected the Best Actor accolade for his performance as Eddie Carbone, while Ivo Van Hove was named Best Director for the production that stripped away props and set to a bare minimum, focusing instead on the intense performances and Miller’s text.
A third win for the Young Vic came in the Best Designer category. Paul Barritt, designer of Golem which played at the Waterloo venue late in 2014, shared the award with Es Devlin for her work on The Nether. The win makes it two in two years for Devlin, who won at the 2013 awards for her work on Chimerica.
The National Theatre also collected two awards at the ceremony. Helen McCrory was named Best Actress for her performance in Medea, while Patsy Ferran, who can currently be seen in the NT’s production of Treasure Island, was given the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer [other than a playwright]. Her award came for both her first and third professional stage appearances, as Jim Hawkins and in the Angela Lansbury-led production of Blithe Spirit.
Sir Antony Sher added to his long list of accolades, collecting the John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance as Falstaff in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry IV Parts I & II.
In the playwriting categories, the Almeida Theatre production of future history play King Charles III, written by Mike Bartlett, won Best New Play, and Barney Norris was named Most Promising Playwright for Visitors.
The single non-London show to win was the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Gypsy, starring Imelda Staunton and Lara Pulver, which collected the Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical. The production will transfer to the Savoy Theatre, adding Peter Davison to its cast, in March.
The announcement of the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards falls in the middle of theatre awards season and gives a strong indication of who might expect a nomination or even a statuette at the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard. Theatreland’s most prestigious prizes will be awarded at a glamorous, performance-packed ceremony at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 12 April.
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