The Barclays Theatre Awards, run in conjunction with the Theatre Managers Association and designed to reward outstanding regional theatre (including opera and dance), have announced this year's shortlists. The highest profile nominations are Simon Russell Beale and Sam West, whose Shakespearean heroes - in Hamlet and Richard II respectively - are battling for the Best Actor Award.
The awards will be announced and presented at the Royal Court Theatre on Oct. 21. Categories and nominations are as follows:
Best Actor:
- Patterson Joseph -Les Blancs, Royal Exchange, Manchester
- Simon Russell Beale - Hamlet, National Theatre tour
- Sam West - Richard II, RSC tour
Best Actress:
- Morag Hood - A Listening Heaven, Lyceum, Edinburgh
- Kate O'Toole - Three Tall Women, Lyric Theatre, Belfast
- Helen Schlesinger - A Moon For The Misbegotten, Royal Exchange, Manchester Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
- Freddie Annobil - Yerma, The Theatre, Chipping Norton and Fifth Amendment on tour
- Jimmy Chisholm - The Admirable Crichton, Festival Theatre, Pitlochry
- John Ramm - Rough Crossing, Salisbury Playhouse
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
- Christine Absalom - Arms and the Man and Blood Wedding, Mercury, Colchester
- Alison Pargeter - Gameplan, Stephen Joseph , Scarborough
- Anne-Louise Ross - The Winter's Tale, Dundee Rep
The Barclays Award For Theatre of the Year:
- Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
- Northern Stage at the Newcastle Playhouse
- Regent Theatre, Stoke on Trent
Best Director:
- Vicky Featherstone - Splendour, Paines Plough in association with the Peter Wolff Trust on tour
- Dominic Hill - The Winter's Tale, Dundee Rep
- Alan Lyddiard - The Ballroom of Romance, The Playhouse, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Best Designer:
- Es Devlin - Meat, Theatre Royal, Plymouth
- Laura Hopkins - Mister Heracles, West Yorkshire Playhouse
- Paul McCauley - Wonderful Tennessee, Lyric, Belfast
Best New Play:
- Accomplices by Simon Bent, Crucible, Sheffield
- A Listening Heaven by Torben Betts, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
- Splendour by Abi Morgan, Paines Plough in association with the Peter Wolff Trust on tour
The Barclays Award for Best Touring Production:
- Grid Iron Theatre's Decky Does a Bronco presented by the Almeida Theatre
- The Far Side of the Moon presented by Ex Machina in association with Cultural Industry
- Rita, Sue and BobToo/A State Affair presented by Out of Joint, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and Soho Theatre Company
Best Musical:
- The Gondoliers, Watermill Theatre, Newbery
- Mince?, Dundee Rep
- My One and Only, Festival Theatre, Chichester
The Equity Award for Best Show for Children and Young People:
- A Christmas Carol, Playhouse, Liverpool
- Tom's Midnight Garden, Unicorn Theatre production
- The Three Musketeers, Young Vic
The Barclays Award for Most Welcoming Theatre: - Arts Theatre, Cambridge
- Civic Theatre, Darlington
- North Wales Theatre, Llandudno
Outstanding Achievement in Opera:
- Richard Jones, Vladimir Jurowski and the Company for Welsh National Opera's production of The Queen of Spades
- Glyndebourne Touring Opera for its productions of The Last Supper and La Boheme
- Opera North for its production of Paradise Moscow
—by Paul Webb Theatrenow
