The Royal Court Theatre has emerged as the frontrunner for Britain’s most
prestigious theatre prize after it achieved 15 nominations for Oliver
Awards. The theatre, under the stewardship of its artistic director Dominic
Cooke, has surged ahead of its rivals the Donmar Warehouse and the National
Theatre, which received ten and nine nominations respectively.
The two most successful Royal Court productions — Jerusalem,
written by Jez Butterworth, and Enron, by Lucy Prebble — each won six
nominations and will go head to head for Best New Play. Their directors, Ian
Rickson and Rupert Goold, are favourites to win best director and their
leading actors are also in competition. Mark Rylance, who played the
hell-raising lead character in Jerusalem, will compete against Enron’s
Sam West.
The Best Actor and Best Actress categories are peppered with household names
well known for their appearances on the big screen as well as the stage.
Gillian Anderson, known to many for her portrayal of Dana Scully in The
X-Files, is nominated for her role in A Doll’s House at the
Donmar Warehouse. Rachel Weiss, Juliet Stevenson and Imelda Staunton are
also nominated in the same category.
Best Actor nominations include James Earl Jones, known to many as the voice of
Darth Vader in Star Wars, Jude Law and James McAvoy.
Keira Knightley also makes an appearance with a Best Supporting Actress
nomination for her stage debut in The Misanthrope despite receiving
mixed reviews from critics.
Terri Paddock, of the theatre website Whatsonstage.com, questioned whether
Knightley would have been nominated if she was not already known as a
Hollywood star. “She didn’t necessarily wow the critics, but she was better
than expected,” she said. “For the past two years the Olivers have been
dominated by the Donmar, and last year the Royal Court had only two
nominations, so it really is quite a resurgence for the Royal Court. Dominic
Cooke took over in 2007, so his regime is bearing fruit.”
Best Actress
Gillian Anderson for A Doll's House at the Donmar
Lorraine Burroughs for The Mountaintop at Trafalgar Studios 1
Imelda Staunton for Entertaining Mr Sloane at Trafalgar Studios 1
Juliet Stevenson for Duet for One at the Almeida and Vaudeville
Rachel Weisz for A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar
Best Actor
James Earl Jones for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Novello
Jude Law for Hamlet, Donmar at Wyndham’s
James McAvoy for Three Days of Rain at the Apollo
Mark Rylance for Jerusalem at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court and now at the Apollo
Ken Stott for A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York’s
Samuel West for Enron at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal
Court and now at the Noel Coward
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Hayley Atwell for A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York’s
Michelle Dockery for Burnt by the Sun at the Lyttelton
Alexandra Gilbreath for Twelfth Night at the Duke of York’s
Keira Knightley for The Misanthrope at the Comedy
Rachael Stirling for The Priory at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at
the Royal Court
Ruth Wilson for A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Mackenzie Crook for Jerusalam at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal
Court and now at the Apollo
Rory Kinnear for Burnt by the Sun at the Lyttelton
Tim Pigott-Smith for Enron at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court and now at the Noel Coward
Eddie Redmayne for Red at the Donmar
Best New Play
Enron by Lucy Prebble at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal
Court and now at the Noel Coward
Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court and now at the Apollo
The Mountaintop by Katori Hall at Trafalgar Studios 1
Red by John Logan by at the Donmar Warehouse
Best New Comedy
Calendar Girls Tim Firth at the Noël Coward
England People Very Nice by Richard Bean at the Olivier
Parlour Song by Jez Butterworth at the Almeida
The Priory by Michael Wynne at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court
Best Musical Revival
Annie Get Your Gun at the Young Vic
Hello Dolly! at the Open Air
A Little Night Music at the Garrick
Oliver! based on the original production by Sam Mendes at the Theatre
Royal, Drury Lane
Best New Musical
Dreamboats and Petticoats at the Savoy
Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical at the Palace
Spring Awakening at the Novello
Sister Act at The London Palladium
Best Entertainment
Arturo Brachetti: Change at the Garrick
Derren Brown: Enigma at the Adelphi
Morecambe at the Duchess
Best Actress in a Musical or Entertainment
Melanie C for Blood Brothers at the Phoenix
Patina Miller for Sister Act at the London Palladium
Samantha Spiro for Hello Dolly! at the Open Air
Hannah Waddingham for A Little Night Music at the Garrick
Charlotte Wakefield for Spring Awakening at the Novello
Best Actor in a Musical or Entertainment
Rowan Atkinson for Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Aneurin Barnard for Spring Awakening at the Novello
Bob Golding for Morecambe at the Duchess
Alexander Hanson for A Little Night Music at the Garrick
Tony Sheldon for Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical at
the Palace
Best Supporting Performance in a Musical or Entertainment
Sheila Hancock for Sister Act at the London Palladium
Maureen Lipman for A Little Night Music at the Garrick
Kelly Price for A Little Night Music at the Garrick
Iwan Rheon for Spring Awakening at the Novello
Best Director
Rupert Goold for Enron at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal
Court and now at the Noel Coward
Michael Grandage for Hamlet, Donmar at Wyndham’s
Lindsay Posner for A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York’s
Ian Rickson for Jerusalem at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court and now at the Apollo
Bijan Sheibani for Our Class at the Cottesloe
Best Revival
Arcadia directed by David Leveaux at the Duke of York’s
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof directed by Debbie Allen at the Novello
The Misanthrope directed by Thea Sharrock at the Comedy
A Streetcar Named Desire directed by Rob Ashford at the Donmar
Warehouse
A View from the Bridge directed by Lindsay Posner at the Duke of York’s
Three Days of Rain directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Apollo
Best Theatre Choreographer
Matthew Bourne for Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Bill T. Jones for Spring Awakening at the Novello
Anthony Van Laast for Sister Act at the London Palladium
Stephen Mear for Hello Dolly! at the Open Air
Best Lighting Design
Burnt by the Sun designed by Mark Henderson at the Lyttelton
Enron designed by Mark Henderson the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court and now at the Noel Coward
Spring Awakening designed by Kevin Adams at the Novello
Three Days of Rain designed by Jon Clark at the Apollo
Best Set Design
England People Very Nice designed by Mark Thompson with animation by
Pete Bishop
Enron designed by Anthony Ward at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court and now at the Noel Coward
Jerusalem designed by Ultz at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the
Royal Court and now at the Apollo
Red designed by Christopher Oram at the Donmar Warehouse
Best Costume Design
Hello Dolly! designed by Peter McKintosh at the Open Air
Madame de Sade designed by Christopher Oram, Donmar at Wyndham’s
The Misanthrope designed by Amy Roberts at the Comedy
Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical designed by Tim
Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner at the Palace
Best Sound Design
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour designed by Christopher Shutt at the
Olivier
Jerusalem designed by Ian Dickinson for Autograph at the Jerwood
Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court and now at the Apollo
Mother Courage and her Children designed by Andrew Bruce and Nick
Lidster for Autograph at the Olivier
Spring Awakening designed by Brian Ronan at the Novello
The Audience Award for Most Popular Show
Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace
The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s
War Horse at the New London
We Will Rock You at the Dominion
Wicked at the Apollo Victoria
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre
Soho Theatre/Tiata Fahodzi for Iya Ile (The First Wife)
The Tricycle Theatre for The Great Game
The Royal Court for Cock at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Best New Opera Production
The Royal Opera’s Der Fliegende Holländer at the Royal Opera
House
The Royal Opera’s Lulu at the Royal Opera House
English National Opera’s Peter Grimes at the London Coliseum
The Royal Opera’s Tristan und Isolde at the Royal Opera House
Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Anja Kampe for her performance in Royal Opera’s Der Fliegende
Holländer at the Royal Opera House
Stuart Skelton for his performance in English National Opera’s Peter
Grimes at the London Coliseum
Nina Steme for her performance in the Royal Opera’s Tristan und Isolde
at the Royal Opera House
Michael Volle for his performances in the Royal Opera’s Lulu and Tristan
und Isolde at the Royal Opera House
Best New Dance Production
Russell Maliphant’s Afterlight at Sadler’s Wells
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s E=MC² at Sadler’s Wells
Goldberg: The Brandstrup Rojo Project, ROH2 at the Royal Opera House
Rambert Dance Company’s A Linha Curva at Sadler’s Wells
Fabulous Beast Dance’s The Rite of Spring at the London Coliseum
Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Colin Dunne for his performance in Out of Time at The Pit
Michael Hulls for his lighting designs for Russell Maliphant’s
Two:Four:Ten at the London Coliseum; and for Russell Maliphant’s
Afterlight and for Ex Machina & Sylvie Guillem’s Eonnagata
at Sadler’s Wells
Rambert Dance Company for an outstanding year of new work
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