The Almeida Theatre led the way at the Olivier Awards 2014 with MasterCard, collecting eight awards from its 10 nominations.
After a similar awards-dominating display at the Critics’ Circle Awards earlier this year, Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica, a co-production with Headlong, won five Olivier Awards including the coveted American Airlines Best New Play Award. Lyndsey Turner collected the award for Best Director, Es Devlin the prize for Best Set Design, Carolyn Downing won for Best Sound Design, and Tim Lutkin and Finn Ross were honoured for the show’s Lighting Design.
Talking about Chimerica’s widespread success, playwright Kirkwood said: “It’s been a brilliant night for the company and it’s really important for me for the collaboration as a whole to be honoured in the same way. It’s a real reflection of what the play actually was and the process of making it.”
The wins for Kirkwood, Turner, Devlin and Downing were central to a strong year for female creative talent at this year’s Olivier Awards. Merrily We Roll Along, directed by Maria Friedman, was crowned Best Musical Revival, and Handbagged, written by Moira Buffini and directed by Indhu Rubasingham, won the award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
In a rare occurrence for the Oliviers, Chimerica’s wins in two of the design categories were shared honours, with awards also given to Merrily We Roll Along’s Gareth Owen (Sound) and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’s Paul Pyant and Jon Driscoll (Lighting).
The Almeida’s further three wins came for Ghosts, which collected Best Revival, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Lowden) and Best Actress (Lesley Manville), following a similar win for Manville at the Critics’ Circle Awards.
Like Manville, Rory Kinnear completed a similar double, adding an Olivier Award for Best Actor to his Critics Circle win for his performance as Iago in Othello at the National Theatre. His NT colleague, Sharon D Clarke, won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in The Amen Corner.
The Book Of Mormon added to its haul of nine Tony Awards with four Oliviers, winning for Best Actor in a Musical (Gavin Creel), Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Stephen Ashfield), Best Theatre Choreographer (Casey Nicholaw) and MasterCard Best New Musical.
Talking about the show’s success at tonight’s ceremony, cast member Jared Gertner said: “It feels amazing. It’s the big one and it feels so great that London embraced us.”
The Book Of Mormon’s musical domination was ably challenged by Once, whose leading actress Zrinka Cvitešić collected the prize for Best Actress in a Musical and whose musical creative team of Martin Lowe, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová won the new Autograph Sound Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.
Long-running musical Les Misérables collected the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award, the only award voted for solely by the theatregoing public, for the second time.
The award for Best New Comedy, happily for this year’s Olivier Awards co-host Stephen Mangan, went to Jeeves & Wooster In Perfect Nonsense, the show in which he had until recently been starring. Best Entertainment And Family went to the Royal Opera House transfer of The Wind In The Willows.
There were more award wins for the Royal Opera House, where the Olivier Awards were staged, in the opera categories, with wins for Les Vêpres Siciliennes (Best New Opera Production) and English Touring Opera’s season at the Linbury Studio (Outstanding Achievement in Opera).
In the dance categories Puz/zle, seen at Sadler’s Wells, won Best New Dance Production, while lighting designer Michael Hulls won the Outstanding Achievement in Dance Award for his body of work.
There were special awards too for National Theatre colleagues Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr, who have spent the last decade making incredible, groundbreaking changes to the Southbank institution and leading the theatre world forward, and impresario Michael White, who has spent a career bringing productions including The Rocky Horror Show and A Chorus Line to the West End.
Alongside the prize-giving, the audience at the Royal Opera House, and theatre fans gathered in Covent Garden Piazza to watch the ceremony streamed live to big screens, enjoyed performances from all the shows nominated for Best New Musical and the Audience Award, and special performances from Broadway icon Bernadette Peters, opera star Joseph Calleja and ABBA’s Benny and Björn joining the cast of Mamma Mia! to celebrate the show’s 15th birthday.
Extensive highlights from the ceremony, which was co-hosted by Mangan and Gemma Arterton, will be shown on ITV at 22:15. It can also be viewed later on ITV Player.
Full list of nominees (Winners in bold):
Best Actor
Henry Goodman for The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui at the Duchess Theatre
Tom Hiddleston for Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse
Rory Kinnear for Othello at the National Theatre, Olivier
Jude Law for Henry V at the Noël Coward Theatre
Best Actress
Hayley Atwell for The Pride at the Trafalgar Studios
Anna Chancellor for Private Lives at the Gielgud Theatre
Judi Dench for Peter And Alice at the Noël Coward Theatre
Lesley Manville for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Ron Cook for Henry V at the Noël Coward Theatre
Mark Gatiss for Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse
Jack Lowden for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Ardal O’Hanlon for The Weir at the Donmar Warehouse & the Wyndham’s Theatre
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Sharon D Clarke for The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier
Sarah Greene for The Cripple Of Inishmaan at the Noël Coward Theatre
Katherine Kingsley for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Noël Coward Theatre
Cecilia Noble for The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier
American Airlines Best New Play
1984 at the Almeida Theatre
Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
The Night Alive at the Donmar Warehouse
Peter And Alice at the Noël Coward Theatre
Best New Comedy
The Duck House at the Vaudeville Theatre
The Full Monty at the Noël Coward Theatre
Jeeves & Wooster In Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York’s Theatre
The Same Deep Water As Me at the Donmar Warehouse
Best Director
Richard Eyre for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Maria Friedman for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Susan Stroman for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
Lyndsey Turner for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Best Actor in a Musical
Gavin Creel for The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Jared Gertner for The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Douglas Hodge for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Kyle Scatliffe for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
Best Actress in a Musical
Rosalie Craig for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Zrinka Cvitešić for Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Jenna Russell for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Charlotte Wakefield for The Sound Of Music at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Stephen Ashfield for The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Colman Domingo for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
Josefina Gabrielle for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Nigel Planer for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
MasterCard Best New Musical
The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Once at the Phoenix Theatre
The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
Best Revival
The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier
Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Othello at the National Theatre, Olivier
Private Lives at the Gielgud Theatre
Best Musical Revival
Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
The Sound Of Music at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Tell Me On A Sunday at the St James Theatre & the Duchess Theatre
Best Theatre Choreographer
Peter Darling for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Steven Hoggett for Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Casey Nicholaw for The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Susan Stroman for The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
Best Entertainment and Family
Derren Brown: Infamous at the Palace Theatre
Eric And Little Ern at the Vaudeville Theatre
Barry Humphries’ Farewell Tour – Eat, Pray, Laugh! at the London Palladium
The Wind In The Willows at the Duchess Theatre
Autograph Sound Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music
The Book Of Mormon – Trey Parker, Robert Lopez & Matt Stone for book, music & lyrics
Merrily We Roll Along – The orchestra
Once – Martin Lowe for composition & arrangements, Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová for music & lyrics
The Scottsboro Boys – John Kander & Fred Ebb for music & lyrics
White Light Award for Best Lighting Design
Paule Constable for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Tim Lutkin & Finn Ross for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Peter Mumford for Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
Paul Pyant and Jon Driscoll for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Best Sound Design
Simon Baker for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Carolyn Downing for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Clive Goodwin for Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Gareth Owen for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Best Costume Design
Nicky Gillibrand for The Wind In The Willows at the Duchess Theatre
Soutra Gilmour for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Rae Smith for The Light Princess at the National Theatre, Lyttelton
Mark Thompson for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
XL Video Award for Best Set Design
Bob Crowley for Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Es Devlin for Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
Tim Goodchild for Strangers On A Train at the Gielgud Theatre
Mark Thompson for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre
Cush Jumbo for Josephine And I at the Bush Theatre
Fleabag at the Soho Theatre
Handbagged at the Tricycle Theatre
Oh What A Lovely War at the Theatre Royal Stratford East
Best New Dance Production
Compagnie 111 Aurélien Bory/Stéphanie Fuster for What’s Become Of You? (Questcequetudeviens?) at the Barbican Theatre
Eastman – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui & Sadler’s Wells for Puz/zle at Sadler’s Wells
Richard Alston Dance Company/Britten Sinfonia for Barbican Britten: Phaedra at the Barbican Theatre
Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Arthur Pita for his choreography of Ballet Black – A Dream Within A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
Clemmie Sveaas for her performance in Witch-Hunt at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
The Mark Morris season at Sadler’s Wells
Michael Hulls for his body of lighting work including Ballet Boyz – The Talent at Sadler’s Wells
Best New Opera Production
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
Les Vêpres Siciliennes at the Royal Opera House
Wozzeck by English National Opera at the London Coliseum
Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez for their performances in La Donna Del Lago at the Royal Opera House
Plácido Domingo for his performance in Nabucco at the Royal Opera House
English Touring Opera for its brave and challenging touring productions at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
BBC Radio 2 Audience Award
Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre
Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre
The Phantom Of The Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre
Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre
Special Awards
Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr
Michael White
