Acclaimed comedian and rising star of the stage Lenny Henry is to host the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard.
The performer, who won a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for his performance in Fences last year, will preside over the annual celebration of London theatre when it is held at the Royal Opera House on 12 April.
Well known for his work as a comedian and presenter, and for his commitment to biennial fundraising event Comic Relief, Henry has, in recent years, built a growing reputation as a stage performer.
Henry made his Shakespearean debut as recently as 2009, taking the title role in Northern Broadsides’ production of Othello. The production proved so successful that it transferred to London. Henry, somewhat surprisingly for a household name, went on to win the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Newcomer.
Since then his career has taken him to the National Theatre, where he starred in another Shakespearean production, The Comedy Of Errors, and on tour in August Wilson’s Fences, another production that later transferred to the West End. As with Othello, it led to another award win for Henry. This time he collected the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor.
Henry will return to the stage again this summer, when he stars in Educating Rita at Chichester Festival Theatre.
In taking charge of theatre’s most prestigious awards ceremony, Henry joins a long line of impressive performers, including last year’s Gemma Arterton and Stephen Mangan, Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton, Clive Anderson, Anthony Hopkins, Diana Rigg and Angela Lansbury.
The yearly ceremony, the high point of theatrical awards season, will feature a host of award presentations as the finest performers and theatre practitioners from the last year are acclaimed before their peers. As ever, the prize-giving and applause will be mixed with incredible performances, while the cast list of presenters will read like a who’s who of the theatre and entertainment industry.
Earlier this week the nominations for the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard were announced. See who made the cut here, then watch what they had to say.
You can keep up to date with all the Oliviers news in the run-up to the ceremony by visiting Official London Theatre or following the Olivier Awards on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
