Kenneth Cranham has been named 2016’s Best Actor at the Olivier Awards with MasterCard for his staggering performance in The Father.
The actor won critical and public acclaim for his titular role in numerous runs of Florian Zeller’s savage drama about the effects of dementia that recently culminated in a five star West End run.
The Guardian described Cranham’s astounding performance as “ferocious, charming, playful, infuriating and increasingly broken”, while Official London Theatre’s Matthew Amer said: “Kenneth Cranham plays the title role with a hold-your-breath brilliance. By giving us glimpses of the spritely, jaunty, entirely lucid Andre, the moments of confusion and embarrassing infantilism are that much more heart-breaking. No wonder it’s one of the most talked about performances of the year.”
Cranham adds this Olivier Award to his Critics’ Circle Theatre Award that he collected for the role earlier this year.
The actor triumphed in one of the evening’s most high profile categories, beating Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Lester, Kenneth Branagh and recent Oscar winner Mark Rylance.