Mike Bartlett’s muscular ringside drama Bull has earned the much-coveted Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre Award at the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard.
Described as a “razor-sharp play about the fine line between office politics and playground bullying”, audiences were invited to watch as three employees fought to keep their jobs in the Claire Lizzimore-directed riveting drama.
Talking backstage after accepting the award, Bartlett said: “We’re all thrilled. It’s lovely that this award is for the whole production. Everybody’s won it and that was what the production was like: a complete team effort. It’s a tough little play, it’s a nasty little play. The trick is to make it entertaining and meaningful. Hopefully people came and found it entertaining and funny but also ultimately about something that’s tough in the world: adults bullying each other.”
The play opened at the Young Vic earlier this year, boasting a cast including Sam Troughton and Eleanor Matsuura, and an immersive set by acclaimed designer Soutra Gilmore that put the audience in the midst of the brutal exchange.
Bull is the latest in a succession of successes for playwright Bartlett. His multi Olivier Award nominated King Charles III was recently awarded the Best New Play Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and is nominated in this year’s MasterCard Best New Play category, while his Royal Court hit play Cock triumphed in this category in 2010.
