Today, the Evening Standard announces the 2022 shortlist for the 66th Evening Standard Theatre Awards. The shortlist features the biggest names and emerging talents from the London stage over the last eighteen months, who are recognised across nine award categories. Among the contenders are globally-renowned actors and actresses and hit shows including: Oklahoma!, Cabaret, The Father and the Assassin and Best of Enemies.
Jodie Comer, the Emmy and Bafta Award-winning star of TV’s Killing Eve, is in the running for the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress. She is shortlisted for her performance as Tessa in Prima Facie, which will move to Broadway in 2023. Samira Wiley and Ronke Adekoluejo are both shortlisted for their performances in Blues for an Alabama Sky at the National Theatre. Completing the line-up for Best Actress are Indira Varma in The Seagull at the Harold Pinter Theatre, and Sheila Atim in Constellations at the Vaudeville Theatre.
For their performances in A Number, Paapa Essiedu and Lennie James are both separately shortlisted for Best Actor. Also competing in this category is Golden Globe-nominated and BAFTA-winning actor James McAvoy, for his performance in Cyrano de Bergerac, performed at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Best known for his work in the original Hamilton, Giles Terera has been nominated for his performance in Blues for an Alabama Sky, one of the play’s four nominations at this year’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Completing the shortlist for Best Actor is Shubham Saraf in the The Father and the Assassin.
Contenders for Best Play include the late Hilary Mantel for her play, with Ben Miles, The Mirror and the Light, performed at the Gielgud Theatre. Other nominees shortlisted in the category include Best of Enemies by James Graham; Indecent by Paula Vogel; Red Pitch by Tyrell Williams; and The Father and the Assassin by Anupama Chandrasekhar.
This year’s category for Most Promising Playwright sees five up and coming writers including Dipo Baruwa-Etti for An Unfinished Man, and Bess Wohl for Camp Siegfried. There are three nominations for productions staged at the Bush Theatre: Tyrell Williams for Red Pitch; Igor Memic for Old Bridge; and Waleed Akhtar for The P Word.
The Best Director category spotlights three female nominees including Katie Mitchell for Little Scratch; Rebecca Frecknall for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, marking one of the play’s four nominations at this year’s awards; and Lynette Linton, for Blues for an Alabama Sky. Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein are nominated for their co-direction of Oklahoma!. Rounding off the Best Director category is Jamie Lloyd for both The Seagull and Cyrano de Bergerac.
This year’s highly-coveted Emerging Talent category features Isobel McArthur who adapted, co-directed and starred in in Pride and Prejudice (sort of); Francis Lovehall for Red Pitch and Lizzie Annis for The Glass Menagerie. They compete against Terique Jarrett for his performance in Daddy and Daniel Raggett who directed Anna X.
In this year’s Best Musical Performance category, Patrick Vaill and Marisha Wallace face against each other for their performances in Oklahoma!. Other contenders include Sutton Foster, Anything Goes; Arinze Kene, Get Up Stand Up, and Jessie Buckley, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.
Sticking with the musical theme, this year’s nominees for Best Musical include Oklahoma!, performed at the Young Vic Theatre; Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, shown at the Playhouse Theatre; Anything Goes, shown at the Barbican Theatre; Get Up Stand Up performed at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue; and Spring Awakening, shown at the Almeida Theatre.
For this year’s Best Design award, Es Devlin and Tim Hatley are both nominated for two of their productions. Es Devlin is nominated for her work in A Number and The Crucible, whilst Tim Hatley is nominated for design work in Back to the Future and Life of Pi. They will compete against Laura Jellinek and Grace Laubacher and their work in Oklahoma!, Punchdrunk for The Burnt City and Tom Scutt for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.
The Evening Standard’s Proprietor Lord Lebedev said: “I am thrilled that we are able to celebrate the best of London theatre after two difficult years. It’s a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of our creatives that they were able to continue making brilliant shows in the toughest of times.”
The year’s winners will be announced at a celebration dinner on Sunday 20th November, held at a central London location.
EVENING STANDARD THEATRE AWARDS 2022 – SHORTLIST
BEST ACTOR
Paapa Essiedu A Number (Old Vic Theatre)
James McAvoy Cyrano de Bergerac (Harold Pinter Theatre)
Shubham Saraf The Father and the Assassin (National Theatre)
Lennie James A Number (Old Vic Theatre)
Giles Terera Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre)
NATASHA RICHARDSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Jodie Comer Prima Facie (Harold Pinter Theatre)
Samira Wiley Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre)
Indira Varma The Seagull (Harold Pinter Theatre)
Ronke Adekoluejo Blues for An Alabama Sky (National Theatre)
Sheila Atim Constellations (Vaudeville Theatre)
BEST PLAY
Best of Enemies by James Graham (Young Vic Theatre)
Indecent by Paula Vogel (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Red Pitch by Tyrell Williams (Bush Theatre)
The Father and the Assassin by Anupama Chandrasekhar (National Theatre)
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles (Gielgud Theatre)
MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Jamie Lloyd The Seagulland Cyrano de Bergerac (Harold Pinter Theatre)
Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein Oklahoma!(Young Vic Theatre)
Lynette Linton Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre)
Rebecca Frecknall Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse)
BEST MUSICAL
Oklahoma! Young Vic Theatre
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club Playhouse Theatre
Anything Goes Barbican Theatre
Get Up Stand Up Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue
Spring Awakening Almeida Theatre
BEST MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Jessie Buckley Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre)
Arinze Kene Get Up Stand Up (Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue)
Sutton Foster Anything Goes (Barbican Theatre)
Patrick Vaill Oklahoma!(Young Vic Theatre)
Marisha Wallace Oklahoma! (Young Vic Theatre)
BEST DESIGN
Tom Scutt Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse)
Es Devlin A Number (Old Vic) and The Crucible (National Theatre)
Punchdrunk for The Burnt City (One Cartridge Place)
Laura Jellinek and Grace Laubacher Oklahoma! (Young Vic Theatre)
Tim Hatley Back to the Future (Adelphi)/Life of Pi (Wyndham’s Theatre – with Finn Caldwell)
CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT
Tyrell Williams Red Pitch (Bush Theatre)
Dipo Baruwa-Etti An Unfinished Man (Yard Theatre)
Waleed Akhtar The P Word (Bush Theatre)
Igor Memic Old Bridge (Bush Theatre)
Bess Wohl Camp Siegfried (Old Vic Theatre)
EMERGING TALENT AWARD
Isobel McArthur Pride and Prejudice (sort of) (Criterion Theatre)
Terique Jarrett Daddy (Almeida Theatre)
Francis Lovehall Red Pitch (Bush Theatre)
Lizzie Annis The Glass Menagerie
Daniel Raggett Anna X (Harold Pinter Theatre)
This year’s Evening Standard Awards takes place on Sunday 20th November 2022 at a Central London based location. To find out more about the event, visit here…
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