Scottish actor James McArdle has won the 2015 Ian Charleson Award for his titular role in Platonov at Chichester Festival Theatre.
The prize, awarded by the National Theater and the Sunday Times, recognises outstanding performances by actors under 30 anywhere in the UK playing a classical role in a play written before 1918.
Second place was awarded to Elliot Barnes-Worrell, for his role as Straker in Man & Superman at the National Theatre, while third place went to Freddie Fox for his titular role in Romeo and Juliet at Sheffield Crucible Theatre.
Other finalists included Joel MacCormack, Ken Nwosu, Joshua James, Jack Colgrave Hirst, Jenny Rainsford, Jessica Brown Findlay, Emily Barber and Jessica Baglow.
Actors are nominated and awarded by a panel of judges made up of theatre professionals; the judge’s this year were Michael Grandage, Wendy Spon, Deborah Findlay and John Peter.
Previous Ian Charleson Award-winners include Susannah Fielding, Rory Kinnear, Claudie Blakley, Rupert Penry-Jones, David Oyelowo, Rebecca Hall, Tom Hollander, Cush Jumbo and Andrea Riseborough.
The Ian Charleson Awards were established in 1991 in honour of the late, great actor Ian Charleson who died the previous year.
