The Olivier Awards with MasterCard have crowned Penelope Wilton Best Actress at this year’s ceremony, earning the much-loved performer her first ever win at theatre’s most prestigious awards.
The Downton Abbey star is celebrated tonight for her powerful role in Mark Hayhurst’s pre-war Nazi Germany-set Taken At Midnight. Wilton led the production as the mother of a German lawyer who had put Hitler on the witness stand: a part Hayhurst had written with Wilton specifically in mind.
Talking to us backstage after collecting her award, Wilton said: “I think I’ve been nominated about five times for this award and when it first started it was a rather small gathering. Now it’s turned into a very big evening so I’m delighted. I was so worried, it was such a dark piece and such a hard evening. People don’t normally go to the theatre to have such a difficult time but I wanted to do it for that very reason.”
Originating the role at the Chichester Festival Theatre before bringing it to the West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Wilton was astonishing as the fearless woman who was pushed to breaking point in order to free her son, undergoing an almost physical transformation on stage as the steely, determined character.
Commenting on her emotionally challenging performance, The Telegraph praised Wilton, saying: “Always impressive when playing characters of determination and integrity, Wilton’s facility for self-composure and stillness draws you in when she seems to be doing almost nothing. She relays the story – often employing direct-to-audience address – in a poignant cross between retrospection and relived anticipation.”
Wilton triumphed over fellow nominees Gillian Anderson (A Streetcar Named Desire), Kristin Scott Thomas (Electra) and Imelda Staunton (Good People) to take home her first Olivier Award win tonight following multiple previous nominations.
