Patrick Stewart has collected the third Laurence Olivier Award of his career, winning Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Claudius and the Ghost in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet.
The classical star, who is soon to appear opposite Ian McKellen in Waiting For Godot, previously won the 1979 award for Actor of the Year for Antony And Cleopatra and the 1994 award for Best Entertainment for his one-man rendition of A Christmas Carol.
Stewart’s victory came at the expense of Hamlet colleague Oliver Ford Davies, Ivanov’s Kevin R McNally and The Norman Conquest’s Paul Ritter. His performance as both Hamlet’s father and father’s usurper in the Gregory Doran-directed production was largely overshadowed by the media circus following David Tennant’s injured back when the show ran at the Novello theatre in late 2008, but it caught the eyes of the Olivier judges.
Stewart praised both Tennant and understudy Edward Bennett in his acceptance speech. Speaking to Official London Theatre about Tennant’s absence from the production, he added: “It was hard for five minutes and then Edward Bennett stepped into the breach and was extraordinary. I am [proud] because it was an outstanding production. Greg Doran, our director, was the inspiration behind the whole production and the RSC of course are my theatrical home.”
Lesli Margherita won Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, her first Laurence Olivier Award after making her West End debut playing Inez in swashbuckling new musical Zorro. After a highly entertaining speech, accompanied by cheers from the gallery where the ensemble of Zorro were waiting to perform, Margherita said:
“I’m so happy, I’m in shock! I’m so happy I didn’t forget anybody, I hope I didn’t!”
Margherita, who beat Alexander Hanson, Katherine Kingsley, Jason Pennycooke and Dave Willetts – all of whom were first time nominees – to the title, is a successful theatre, television and film star on the far side of the Atlantic. On stage she has starred in productions of Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, Grease, A Chorus Line and Gypsy, while her TV appearances include Charmed, NYPD Blue and The King Of Queens. She will be heading back to LA following the closure of Zorro on 14 March, and intends to join the American production of the musical when it opens Stateside.
The Royal Court’s production of The Pride has won the award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. Alexi Kaye Campbell’s piece, two parallel tales split by 50 years exploring changing views about sexuality, ran at the Sloane Square venue in the autumn of 2008 and has already won Campbell the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright.
Following the win, Campbell praised the company and creative team behind The Pride and told Official London Theatre that the award is “a good bit of motivation. It is amazing, it’s an incredible achievement, I’m very proud.”
The category always looked like a safe bet for the Royal Court, which also received nominations for the ensemble cast of Oxford Street and the design of Scarborough. The only non-Royal Court nomination came for previous winner Clive Rowe, who was nominated for playing the dame in Hackney Empire’s Mother Goose.
MA
