Nominees include the two co-stars of the National's Othello, Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear, who compete in the Best Actor category with Chiwetel Ejiofor; Kinnear is additionally also in contention for Most Promising Playwright for his debut play The Herd, seen at the Bush Theatre. Directors Richard Eyre, Nicholas Hytner and Rufus Norris, who have respectively been past, present and future artistic directors of the National Theatre, are in contention for Best Director alongside Lyndsey Turner.

The West End import of Broadway's The Book of Mormon is in contention for Best Musical, alongside the National's production of Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson's The Light Princess and the Menier Chocolate Factory revival of Merrily We Roll Along that transferred to the West End's Pinter Theatre. However, both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Once have been snubbed, though the latter did get a mention for Bob Crowley's set design alongside other shows he designed this year.

Broadway's Seth Numrich is nominated for Oustanding Newcomer for his London debut in Sweet Bird of Youth that was seen at the Old Vic.

Damian Lewis, star of TV's "Homeland" who began his career on the London stage, will act as master of ceremonies of the event.

In addition to the nine award categories listed below, which are decided by a panel of theatre critics and London Evening Standard's editor, Sarah Sands, six other special awards will be presented on the night, without shortlists. These are the Emerging Talent Award in Partnership with Burberry, the Award for Comedy (new this year), the Lebedev Special Award, the Editor's Award, Beyond Theatre and the Moscow Art Theatre’s Golden Seagull. In a press statement, Sands commented, "This shortlist is one of our strongest in years. The West End is in rude health, established schemes such as NT Live have really come into their own, bringing theatre to a wider audience and inspiring others to come up with new ideas. The Evening Standard is proud to play a part in London’s theatrical life with these Awards at a time when it is buzzing with so much creativity."

The full shortlist comprises:

Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor for A Season in the Congo at Young Vic
Rory Kinnear for Othello at National's Olivier
Adrian Lester for Othello at National's Olivier

Nastasha Richardson Award for Best Actress
Linda Bassett for Roots at Donmar Warehouse
Lesley Manville for Ghosts at Almeida
Helen Mirren for The Audience at Gielgud
Billie Piper for The Effect at National's Cottesloe
Kristin Scott Thomas for Old Times at Harold Pinter

Best Play
Chimerica by Lucy Kirkwood at Almeida and Harold Pinter
The Dark Earth and the Light Sky by Nick Dear at Almeida
The Effect by Lucy Prebble at National's Cottesloe

Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical
The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales
The Light Princess at the National (Lyttelton)
Merrily We Roll Along at Menier Chocolate Factory and Harold Pinter

Best Director
Richard Eyre for Ghosts at Almeida
Nicholas Hytner for Othello at National's Olivier
Rufus Norris for The Amen Corner at National's Olivier
Lyndsey Turner for Chimerica at Almeida and Harold Pinter

Best Design
Bob Crowley for People at National's Lyttelton and The Audience at Gielgud and Once at Phoenix
Es Devlin for Chimerica at Almeida and Pinter
Tim Hatley (design) & Peter Mumford (lighting) for Ghosts at Almeida

Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright
Rachel De-lahay for Routes at Royal Court
Rory Kinnear for The Herd at Bush
Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Fleabag at Soho

Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer
Daniel Boyd for 4000 Miles at Print Room
Seth Numrich for Sweet Bird of Youth at Old Vic
Luke Thompson for A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe
Olivia Vinall for Othello at National's Olivier

Best Musical Performance
Rosalie Craig for The Light Princess at National's Lyttelton
Cynthia Erivo for The Color Purple at Menier Chocolate Factory
Charlotte Wakefield for The Sound of Music at Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park