The 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Sound Design has gone to Paul Arditti and Jocelyn Pook, who provided the sound design and music respectively for the National Theatre’s revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. This is the first win of the evening for the Marianne Elliott-directed production which is also nominated for Best Revival and Best Actress (Anne-Marie Duff).
Other nominees in this category included Steve C Kennedy (Hairspray), Simon Baker for Autograph (The Lord Of The Rings), Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster for Autograph (Parade) and Christopher Shutt, Adrian Sutton and John Tams (War Horse).
The work of Arditti and Pook, whose score was played live by a five piece band, helped to set the tone for a production which swept from an ethereal, otherworldly opening to cacophonous, raging battle scenes.
This is only the fifth year that Sound Design has been included at the Laurence Olivier Awards. In winning it Arditti becomes the first sound designer to have two Laurence Olivier Awards to display at home. He first won in 2006 for his work on Billy Elliot – The Musical. At the National Theatre he has previously worked on Market Boy, The President Of An Empty Room, The Permanent Way and The Pillowman, winning a Drama Desk Award for Sound Design when this production transferred to Broadway.
Pook has previously been nominated for BAFTAs and Golden Globes for her music for films and television productions including Eyes Wide Shut and The Government Inspector. She has worked as a viola player and string arranger with artists including Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, Manic Street Preachers and The Communards. Her first theatre work came as a performer with Impact Theatre Cooperative and Lumière And Son, while her first appearance at the National Theatre came in 1994/5, as a violin-playing rabbit in The Wind In The Willows.
The 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Sound Design was presented by the West End’s own Frankie Valli, Ryan Molloy, who will soon be taking to the Prince Edward stage as the popular American singer in Jersey Boys.
MA
