At the awards ceremony today, The Critics’ Circle, presented their annual awards for Services to the Arts. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the awards, which are given on the basis of an independent vote by professional theatre critics.
Rory Kinnear claimed a double victory, winning an award his debut play, The Herd, and another for his performance in Othello, while the Almeida theatre was very successful.
Rory Kinnear’s was a rare double victory, winning one as an actor and another as most promising playwright (shared with Phoebe Waller-Bridge). The Almeida theatre won four awards including three for Chimerica, an epic cross-continental narrative that followed a photographer trying to track down the famous “Tank Man” of Tiananmen Square. Playwright Lucy Kirkwood, director Lyndsey Turner and designer Es Devlin all won awards for their work on the show, a co-production between Headlong and the Almeida.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Best Actress – Lesley Manville in Ghosts (Almeida Theatre/Trafalgar Studios)
Best Actor – Lenny Henry in Fences (Theatre Royal Bath and tour/Duchess Theatre)
The Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer other than a Playwright – Kate O’Flynn in Port (Lyttelton Theatre at the National)
The John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance – Rory Kinnear in Othello (Olivier Theatre at the National)
Best New Play – Chimerica by Lucy Kirkwood (Almeida Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre)
The Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical- The Scottsboro Boys(Young Vic Theatre)
Best Director – Lyndsey Turner for Chimerica (Almeida Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre)
Best Designer – Es Devlin for Chimerica (Almeida Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre)
Most Promising Playwright- Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Fleabag(Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Soho Theatre) and Rory Kinnear for The Herd (Bush Theatre)
For details about the Critics’ Circle visit their website at:
www.criticscircle.org.uk
Tuesday 28th January 2014
