The Olivier Awards should be open to the whole country

Great theatre outside London is being ignored

Gemma Arterton (Simon Turtle)

Laurence Olivier once said: “I don’t approve of prizes for actors, unless I am receiving them.”

It remains a fine maxim for all of our attitudes to all awards. i do wonder though, whether Sir Laurence would have approved of the awards that are named in his honour. The nominations for the 2016 Olivier awards celebrate some of the great performances of the past year on the London stage. The likes of Judi Dench, Gemma Arterton, Imelda Staunton, Kenenth Branagh, Mark Rylance and Benedict Cumberbatch are among those vying for the top prizes. All have given great performances. It’s the fact that all the prizes are for performances and productions on the London stage that bothers me.

Organisers of the awards will point out that they are run by the Society of London Theatre and therefore concentrate on London. But it’s a fairly feeble excuse. Rules can be rewritten. Eligibility for entry can be changed. How can such prestigious theatre awards ignore the rest of England, where from Plymouth to Leeds and beyond so much great theatre is being produced, let alone the exciting theatre coming out of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland It’s appalling arrogance to say that the world of theatre begins and ends in the West End of London, with some gracious nods to the National and RSC a mile down the road and one or two other high profile (London) subsidised venues. The insularity of the awards also leads to some utter nonsense. Take the Olivier’s two opera awards, Outstanding Achievement in Opera and Best New Opera Production. Well, there are actually only two opera houses in London, so guess what, the companies in those two buildings the Royal Opera and English National Opera invariably walk away with a prize. All seven nominations in the two categories are shared between those two institutions. Prize-winning is so much easier when there is no competition allowed.

These awards take themselves very seriously with a gala night at the Royal Opera House and a red carpet that stretches the length of the street outside. The rest of the country doesn’t appear to take them quite so seriously. Unlike the BAFTAs, they get no live TV coverage, just a highlights programme late at night.

One way that they might be taken rather more seriously, and have a greater claim, to showcase Britain’s theatre, is to open up the awards to the whole country. Theatregoers and critics know of the great work being done in for example, Sheffield, a real destination for lovers of the art form. But Sheffield is ineligible for the Oliviers. There are other examples. And they all deserve to be considered for these awards, and to have the chance to boast that they are Olivier winners. At present, the awards that bear the name of the greatest actor who ever lived are patronising in their refusal to acknowledge artistic life outside London.

A gallery tour round other galleries

The other Thursday I visited the Whitechapel Gallery, a really thriving community hub as well as a thought-provoking and illuminating art venue for a wide demographic under the inspiring leadership of Iwona Blazwick. I mention the fact that it was a Thursday because I took advantage of the London gallery’s First Thursday bus tour. On the first Thursday evening of every month the gallery charters a coach to take visitors to a few nearby art galleries, for guided tours of their exhibitions, to see what art is on show in the vicinity as well as helping people to get to know other galleries in the area. It was a great evening, which only made me wonder why on earth this superbly simple idea isn’t adopted by other major galleries across the country.

Being for the benefit of Mr Martin

When Sir George Martin, who died this week, had his retirement party some years back, I was privileged to be there. We chatted for a while, not about The Beatles, but about the Peter Sellers records he produced pre-Beatles, which my parents owned, and which I grew up listening to, knowing the great comedy albums almost by heart. When John Lennon learned that The Beatles were to be signed by Parlophone and George Martin, he referred to those comedy albums by saying that the band would be “with the freaks.” But they were classics, and among the many brilliant achievements by a brilliant record producer.

d.lister@independent.co.uk/twitter: davidlister1