London Evening Standard Theatre Awards Handed Out Nov. 23; Jerusalem, Enron and August Among Nominees

By Mark Shenton
November 23, 2009

Evening Standard Theatre Awards will be presented in a ceremony on Nov. 23 at the Royal Opera House in London. The Royal Court's West End-bound production of Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem leads the nominations list, with four citations, while another Royal Court play, Enron, and the import of August: Osage County from Broadway have received three nominations apiece.

The results will be posted on Playbill.com when they become available.

The two Royal Court plays, transferring to the West End's Apollo Theatre and Noel Coward Theatre respectively in January, go head-to-head in three categories, Best Play, Best Actor and Best Director. The producing partnership of Enron is Chichester Festival Theatre/Royal Court/Headlong. Trevor Nunn's production of A Little Night Music (now preparing for a Broadway run) is in contention for Best Musical.

The awards are chosen by a panel of London theatre critics comprising the Standard's chief theatre critic Henry Hitchings, The Observer's Susannah Clapp, the Mail on Sunday's Georgina Brown, the Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer and the International Herald Tribune's Matt Wolf.

The full shortlist comprises:

Best Play
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts (Steppenwolf at the National's Lyttelton)
Enron by Lucy Prebble (Chichester Festival Theatre/Royal Court/Headlong)
Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth (Royal Court)
Punk Rock by Simon Stephens (Lyric Hammersmith

Best Actor
Simon Russell Beale for The Winter's Tale (Old Vic)
Mark Rylance for Jerusalem (Royal Court)
Ken Stott for A View from the Bridge (Duke of York's)
Samuel West for Enron (Chichester Festival Theatre/Royal Court/Headlong)

The Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress
Deanna Dunegan for August: Osage County (Steppenwolf at the National's Lyttelton)
Penny Downie for Helen (Shakespeare's Globe)
Juliet Stevenson for Duet for One (Almeida/Vaudeville)
Rachel Weisz for A Streetcar Named Desire (Donmar Warehouse)

Best Director
Rupert Goold for Enron (Chichester Festival Theatre/Royal Court/Headlong)
Jeremy Herrin for Tusk Tusk (Royal Court)
Ian Rickson for Jerusalem (Royal Court)
Anna D Shapiro for August: Osage County (Steppenwolf at the National's Lyttelton)

The Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical
A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory/Garrick)
Been So Long (Young Vic)
Hello, Dolly! (Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park)
Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith/Novello)

Best Design
Jon Bausor for Kursk (Young Vic)
Miriam Buether for Judgement Day (Almeida)
Mamoru Iriguchi for Mincemeat (Cardboard Citizens at Cordy House, Shoreditch)
Ultz for Jerusalem (Royal Court)

The Charles Wintour Award for most promising playwright
Alia Bano for Shades (Royal Court)
Katori Hall for Mountaintop (Theatre 503 & Trafalgar Studios)
Alexi Kaye Campbell for The Pride (Royal Court) and Apologia (Bush Theatre)

The Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer
Naana Agyei-Ampadu for Been So Long (Young Vic)
Lenny Henry for Othello (Northern Broadsides at Trafalgar Studios)
Bel Powley for Tusk Tusk (Royal Court)
Tom Sturridge for Punk Rock (Lyric Hammersmith)