It’s hard to pick the best moment from the 67th Evening Standard Theater Awards, co-hosted by the Standard’s owner Lord Lebedev and Ian McKellen at Claridge’s last night. Was it when Nicole Scherzinger said, “I’m holding myself back now” as she accepted her Best Musical Performance Award for Sunset Boulevard?
Was it Sir Sam Mendes who described the theater world as the family he never had growing up? Patsy Ferran and Anjana Vasan learned that they had jointly won the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress for their performances as sisters Blanche and Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire? Elton John called it “the happiest moment ever” as he received a special award from Boy George and Jake Shears.
Whatever moment tickled your fancy, this was a joyous occasion with the London newspaper celebrating the talent, self-mockery and, above all, the camaraderie of London theatre. It started with host Susan Wokoma spoofing the dressing room-to-stage video sequence seen on Sunset Boulevard.
And it ended, at least formally, with a tribute to the unsung and often unseen contribution that musicians make to shows, with a band, hidden in the crowd, coming to life for a musical medley. The afterparty and the after-afterparty of course continued until the wee hours. As well as recognizing excellence, Britain’s oldest drama awards provide an opportunity for many glorious, glamorous people to get together and have fun.
Scherzinger emotionally shared how she was accepted by London’s theater community when she was cast as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard by Jamie Lloyd, who received the Milton Shulman Award for Best Director. The prize is named after the former Standard theater critic.
Lloyd said his leading lady “gave us a performance for the ages”. However, Sunset Boulevard took home the Best Musical award for Nicholas Hytner’s breathtaking, enthralling revival of Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre. Hytner thanked his cast, crew and the audience’s willing participation for “making it so much fun.”
Andrew Scott scored his second ESTA Best Actor award for his one-man Chekhov adaptation Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre, directed by Sam Yates, having previously won for Present Laughter at the Old Vic in 2019. He couldn’t attend the ceremony last night due to filming commitments in Los Angeles, but in a speech read by Jenna Coleman he said: ‘I’m really excited. Long live London theatre, and theater everywhere.”
Elton John and Ruth Wilson each received a special Editor’s Award from the Standard’s new editor-in-chief, Dylan Jones OBE. Wilson’s was for her extraordinary 24-hour performance The Second Woman at the Young Vic, where she performed the same scene 100 times with 100 different men, most of them amateurs (including ES Magazine editor Ben Cobb, who, she remembered poorly , she “dragged to the ground by his Gucci tie”). Elton John has been honored for bringing his collaborative musical spirit to the theater, most recently with Tammy Faye, created with Jake Shears and writer James Graham.
Receiving her statuette from Tom Hiddleston, Wilson described The Second Woman as “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life”. Elton John said that at the age of 76 he was still learning about art, music and collaboration, and that those involved in theater should be proud. “It brings joy, and in today’s world that’s what we need.”
Sir Sam Mendes received the special Lebedev Award for his contribution to theater over four decades, during which he managed the Donmar Warehouse, directed for the RSC and National Theatre, and conquered the West End and Broadway, while also developing an unparalleled film career.
Mendes spoke movingly about how the pandemic had exposed the precarious existence of the freelance artists, other creatives and backstage workers who keep the industry running. He announced that the Theater Artists Fund he founded in 2020 would soon roll out a pilot program securing two-year contracts for 20 theater professionals in 15 partner theaters across the UK. He also paid tribute to his wife Alison Balsam, his production partner Caro Newling, and – it was a recurring theme throughout the evening – to the close-knit, supportive theater community.
Jack Thorne’s drama The Motive and the Cue, which Mendes directed at the National Theater and which tells the backstage story of John Gielgud directing Richard Burton in Hamlet on Broadway in 1964, won the Best Play Award and moves to the West End next month. Thorne pointed out that Burton was a lost child, saved by a visionary teacher, and urged that drama in public schools should be protected.
One of the more emotional moments of the evening came when Patsy Ferran and Anjana Vasan were named by David Tennant as joint winners of the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress, presented this year in partnership with luxury ready-to-wear brand Mithridate.
Ferran famously stepped into the role of Blanche on a week’s notice after the original actress had to withdraw, learning the role and quickly delivering an astonishing performance. But the judges felt Vasan’s spirited portrayal of Stella played an equal role in putting Tennessee Williams’ sisters at the center. “This is honestly the best result,” Ferran said as the two women spoke together to the wildly applauding crowd. “If I had won alone, I would have given it to her,” Vasan said.
It was a good year for the Almeida, with nominations in multiple categories, including Tammy Faye for Best Musical and Sam Holcroft’s dystopian drama A Mirror for Best Game. Frecknall was nominated for the director’s award for Streetcar, and her lead actor Paul Mescal for Best Actor for his simmering, watchful performance as Stanley Kowalski.
Almeida boss Rupert Goold was shortlisted in the director category for his production of Dear England, James Graham’s drama about Gareth Southgate’s revival of the England football team, at the National. The show was also nominated for Best Play, which Graham won for Best of Enemies at the Young Vic last year. This year the National also received nominations for Paapa Essiedu as Best Actor and Taylor Russell for Emerging Talent in Lucy Prebbles The Effect, directed by the ever-busy Lloyd.
Guys and Dolls also received awards for Best Design (Bunny Christie), Best Musical Performance (Marisha Wallace) and Emerging Talent (Andrew Richardson, who made a stunningly confident stage debut as Sky Masterson). Shows at the Barbican were nominated in three categories and new venue @sohoplace scored a Best Actress nod for Sophie Okonedo’s raw Medea.
West London’s Bush Theater dominated the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright with two of the four nominations. The category is named after the former editor of the Evening Standard, who founded the awards in 1955 when he was deputy editor. It is supported by Dame Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, artistic director and global content advisor of Condé Nast, in memory of her father.
This year it went to Isley Lynn for The Swell, her exploration of a relationship between three women over many decades, at the Orange Tree Theater in Richmond. Further proof that theater is flourishing beyond the big halls and mid-sized powerhouses came when Georgia Lowe scooped the Best Design Award for her witty sets for The Good Person of Szechwan at the Lyric Hammersmith.
The Emerging Talent Award went to writer, singer and composer Tatenda Shamiso for his one-man show about gender transition, NO ID at the Royal Court. The little polymath joked that the statue was almost as tall as he was.
Susan Wokoma was a wonderfully witty presenter, who mockingly complained that she had not been cast in any of the shortlisted shows. Guests drank Laurent-Perrier champagne and Bird in Hand wine during dinner and Eight Lands vodka cocktails were served after the ceremony.
In his welcome speech, Lord Lebedev praised those who kept the flame of London theater alive and brought it back to life during the pandemic. Describing theater as “an alchemy” that creates new worlds for audiences to escape into, he told the happy crowd: “I want to say on behalf of everyone: thank you.”
The judges for the 66th Evening Standard Theater Awards were Baz Bamigboye, Sarah Crompton, Nick Curtis, Farah Najib, Alice Saville and Matt Wolf, and it was chaired by Evening Standard Culture Editor Nancy Durrant. The awards were held at Claridge’s on Sunday 19 November; winners were transported there by Polestar in sustainable style