The nominees have been announced for the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2014
The Evening Standard has revealed the nominations for its forthcoming 60th Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
This year’s awards ceremony will be staged for the first time at the London Palladium, in a bigger-than-usual ceremony to mark the award’s diamond anniversary .
The awards ceremony, to be held on 30 November 2014, will be hosted by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, and co-hosted by Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev and fashion industry heavyweights Condé Nast artistic director Anna Wintour and Burberry chief creative and CEO Christopher Bailey.
Geared towards the starry end of West End Theatre, this year’s awards celebrate some of the highest profile performances of 2014.
In the best actress category major stars vying for the award are Gillian Anderson, for A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic, Helen McCrory for Medea at the National Theatre, Billie Piper for Great Britain at the National Theatr, Kristin Scott Thomas for her current performance in Electra at the Old Vic, and Tanya Moodie for her performance in Intimate Apparel at the Park Theatre.
A rather short shortlist for best actor sees Tom Hiddleston, who starred in Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse, nominated alongside Ben Miles for his performance in Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at the Aldwych Theatre and Mark Strong in A View From The Bridge at the Young Vic, which transfers into the West End’s Wyndham’s Theatre next year.
The nominations for the best play gong are Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage at the Park Theatre, The James Plays by Rona Munro at the National Theatre, King Charles III by Mike Bartlett at the Almeida and currently at the Wyndham’s Theatre, and The Nether by Jennifer Haley at the Royal Court and soon to be transferring to the Duke of York’s Theatre.
Best director nominees are Stephen Daldry for Skylight at the Wyndham’s Theatre, Yaël Farber for her production of The Crucible at the Old Vic Theatre, Jeremy Herrin for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies at the Aldwych Theatre and Ivo van Hove for A View From The Bridge at the Young Vic.
The most promising playwright award shortlist includes Barney Norris for Visitors at the Arcola, Dan O’Brien for The Body Of An American at the Gate Notting Hill and Beth Steel for Wonderland at the Hampstead Theatre.
The best musical category sees Dogfight at Southwark Playhouse battle against Here Lies Love at the National Theatre, The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic and now the Garrick Theatre, and Sunny Afternoon at Hampstead and now the Harold Pinter Theatre.
Design nods go to Bunny Christie for Emil And The Detectives at the National, Es Devlin for American Psycho at the Almeida, Mark Henderson for his lighting on Kate Bush’s Before The Dawn concert at the Eventim Apollo and Ashley Martin-Davis for Wonderland at Hampstead.
Finally, the emerging talent award nominations go to Matthew Beard for his performance in Skylight at the Wyndham’s Theatre, John Dagleish for his performance in Sunny Afternoon, currently at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Robert Hastie for directing My Night With Reg at the Donmar Warehouse and soon to be at the Apollo Theatre, and Laura Jane Matthewson for her performance in Dogfight at the Southwark Playhouse.
Surprise omissions from this year’s shortlist include Richard Armitage for his performance in The Crucible at the Old Vic, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for the musicals category , Simon Russell Beale for King Lear at the National Theatre, Imelda Staunton for Good People, Matt Smith for American Psycho and Angela Lansbury for Blithe Spirit.
Four further special awards will be presented on the night.
SEE THE FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS >
