Hat-trick of awards confirms Mendes as golden boy of stage
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The status of Sam Mendes as the golden boy of the British stage was confirmed yesterday when he became the first person to land three prizes at Britain's most prestigious theatre awards.
The Oscar-winning director, who owed his first job on the stage as much to his cricketing skills as his thespian talents, dominated the Lawrence Olivier Awards in London despite being 3,470 miles away.
He picked up the best director and best revival awards for his farewell productions of Twelfth Night and Chekov's Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse, the West End theatre he has now left after spending a decade there as artistic director.
The 37-year-old wunderkind, who is currently directing Uncle Vanya in New York and was unable to attend yesterday's ceremony, was also given a special award for his work at the Donmar, where he famously persuaded Nicole Kidman to perform naked in The Blue Room.
It is the first time anyone has taken a hat-trick of prizes from the Oliviers. Only a handful have even won two, including Dame Judi Dench who won best actress and best actress in a musical in 1996.
Mendes, whose transfer from London's theatres to Hollywood has turned him from a stage director into a fledgling impresario, added a Valentine's Day flavour to proceedings by dedicating his first two awards to his partner, the actress Kate Winslet. Speaking after a surprise presentation in a New York theatre while sitting with Winslet, he said he had drawn on his own experiences to put on the two plays about affairs of the heart.
The director of American Beauty and Road to Perdition said: "I want to say thank you to my partner, Kate, because these are two plays about love and it helps when you direct them, to have some personal experience." Admitting that he had been expecting "maybe one" award, the Reading-born graduate and keen cricketer, who was given his first theatrical role in Chichester because its director was tired of being beaten at cricket by the Royal Shakespeare Company, said he considered his Donmar award was for all those he had worked with at the theatre.
The awards ceremony at the Lyceum Theatre in the West End saw some of the most tightly contested categories of recent years following an influx of Hollywood stars, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Emily Watson, to the London stage. But the two stars, nominated in the best actress category for their respective performances in Proof and Uncle Vanya, ultimately lost out to Clare Higgins for her role in Vincent in Brixton, about Van Gogh's early years in London.
In the absence of Mendes, it was left to Paltrow to provide a touch of A-list glamour by turning up to the awards. Few would have noticed, however, as she slipped into the theatre at the last possible moment and then sneaked out of a rear entrance to avoid questions about her relationship with her boyfriend, Chris Martin, the lead singer of the rock band Coldplay.
The best actor award went to Simon Russell Beale, like Mendes a Cambridge English graduate, for the lead role in Uncle Vanya. He beat Michael Gambon, the new Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, and Mark Rylance, director of the Globe Theatre.
The battle for the best new musical was won by Our House, which features the music of Madness, after it saw off two more high-profile rivals – Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bollywood extravaganza, Bombay Dreams, and the stage version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The best musical was won by Trevor Nunn's version of Anything Goes, his penultimate production at the National Theatre. My Fair Lady also scored a double success with its two lead performers, Alex Jennings and Joanna Riding taking the acting awards in the musical category.
THE OLIVIER WINNERS
* Best actor: Simon Russell Beale, Uncle Vanya
* Best actress: Clare Higgins, Vincent In Brixton
* Best supporting actor: Essie Davis, A Streetcar Named Desire
* Best actor, musical/ entertainment: Alex Jennings, My Fair Lady
* Best actress, musical/ entertainment: Joanna Riding, My Fair Lady
* Best supporting actor, musical/entertainment: Paul Baker, Taboo
* Most promising performer: Noel Clarke, Where Do We Live
* BBC award for best new play: Vincent In Brixton
* Best director: Sam Mendes, Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya
* Best revival: Twelfth Night/Uncle Vanya
* Outstanding musical production: Anything Goes
* Best new musical: Our House
* Best entertainment: Play Without Words
* Best new comedy: The Lieutenant Of Inishmore
* Best new opera production: Wozzeck
* Best costume design: Twelfth Night
* Best lighting design: Bacchai
* Best set design: A Streetcar Named Desire
* Best theatre choreographer: Matthew Bourne and company
* Outstanding achievement in opera: Antonio Pappano
* Outstanding achievement in dance: Robyn Orlin, Daddy, I've Seen This Piece Six Times And I Still Don't Know Why They're Hurting Each Other
* Best new dance production: Danses Concertantes' Polyphonia
* Outstanding achievement of the year: Gregory Doran and cast of Jacobean Season
* Special award: Sam Mendes
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments