The no less technical and no more artistic awards for my favourite performances and productions of 2011. The eagle eyed among you may notice a surprising absence of Shakespeare in this list (though he’s not missing entirely) - this is because to make my choices easier I’ve given him a separate post, coming up next.
The ‘Stand By Your Man’ Award for Best Supporting Actor
After much hesitation and deliberation I’ve decided to give this one to two superb actors. Firstly, Dominic Mafham for his performance as Lieutenant Osborne in ‘Journey’s End’ – which genuinely had me weeping with a single word. Equally superb, but for different reasons, was Martin Hutson’s nuanced, clever and entertaining performance as Joseph Keyston in ‘Butley’.
The ‘My Gal Is Red Hot’ Award for Best Supporting Actress
There was one outstanding candidate that sprang to mind when I was considering this one and I think it will be a long time before anyone can beat Sheridan Smith’s sublime, funny and moving performance as the Duchess in ‘Flare Path’.
The ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ Award for Best Actor
Andrew Scott’s stunning portrayal of Julian in ‘The Emperor and the Galilean’ at the National, was both a testament to his stamina and to his impressive emotional clarity and range. I truly felt like he was taking us on an incredible journey and was gripped from start to finish.
The ‘I’m Every Woman’ Award for Best Actress
I’m a long term fan, but Tamsin Greig impressed me again with her performance as Hilary in the excellent ‘Jumpy’ at the Royal Court. Alongside her superb sense of comedy and an occasionally excruciating self deprecation and awareness and a wonderfully emotional vulnerability.
The ‘Rama Lama Lama Ke Ding A De Dinga A Dong’ Award for Best Ensemble Performance
This has been by far the most difficult choice for me from the performance section this year as I’ve seen several superb ensembles with ‘Electra’ at the Gate Theatre and ‘Iolanthe’ at Wilton’s Music Hall as strong contenders. In the end, though I’ve decided to give this to ‘The Globe Mysteries’ – whose cast took us on a thoroughly entertaining whistle stop tour of the Bible – and looked to be loving every second of it. Inventive, a ridiculous amount of fun and with a feast of characters and accents. Plus as I was on the saved side, I’m definitely biased.
The ‘All By Myself’ Award for Best Solo Performance
I’ve decided to give this to both Daniel Kitson for his charming, clever and moving performance of ‘It’s Always Right Now, Until It’s Later’ at the National; and to Camille O’Sullivan for her powerful and gripping performance of ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ at the Swan Theatre in Stratford. I’m also reserving a special mention for Joshua McGuire’s stunning performance of ‘The Chronicles’ during 66 Books at the Bush Theatre.
The ‘Airbrushed in Front of Your Eyes’ Award for Impressing in an Understudy Role
I almost want to put forward the entire cast of the remixed ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ at the Swan Theatre, where a wealth of role switching turned a production that had struggled into something quite magical. But instead I’m going to highlight some individual understudy performances. I was highly impressed by Rendah Heywood’s performance as Belle in ‘Rocket to the Moon’ at the National and Daniel Percival taking on the meaty role of Macduff in the RSC ‘Macbeth’. But the outright winner for me had to be Sophie Russell’s take over as the Fool in ‘King Lear’ for the RSC, transforming the characters relationship with Lear and leading to one of the most heartbreaking performances of the year for me.
The ‘Catching My Eye’ Award for New (To Me) Actors
There are always a handful of actors whose presence in a play will almost certainly guarantee my attendance, but this year has given me a wealth of new people to stalk (in a professional category). So in no particular order I’ve particularly loved this year: Tom Brookes, John Heffernan, Joshua McGuire, Daniel Ings, Michael Marcus, Jack Whitam, Martin Hutson, James Norton, Jonathan Slinger, Lisa McGrillis, Emma Pallant, Jo Herbert, Gunnar Cauthery, Phil Cumbus, Kyle Soller, Imogen Doel and Felix Hayes.
The ‘I’m A Sheep’ Award for the Best Actors Appearing As Animals
A difficult choice this year as both ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’ and the cast of ‘Noah’s Ark’ at the Blue Elephant Theatre gave me a wealth of excellent performances to choose from. In the end I’ve decided to award this jointly to Peter Bray for his lovable, funny and clarinet wielding Plug the Dog in ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’; and to Lisa McGrillis for simply the best sheep I’ve yet seen on stage in ‘The Globe Mysteries’.
The ‘How Much is that Empty Window’ Award for Best Invisible Dog
A much wider and more competitive field than some might expect, but in the end there was one clear winner as Spider (and her wrangler Ben Deery) in ‘The Woman in Black’ easily swept the other competition aside. Rabbits!
The ‘David vs. Goliath’ Award for Taking on the West End and Winning
This year has been a strong year for smaller producing houses taking on the big West End giants and trouncing them roundly (at least in my opinion). Propeller’s ‘Richard III’ was far more exciting than the starry Old Vic/Bridge Project version; whilst the Orange Tree Theatre’s ‘Three Farces’ easily outshone every other farce I saw this year. The outright winner though, had to be the beautiful ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at the Globe, which surpassed the Wyndham Theatre’s production in every way possible.
The ‘When Will I See You Again’ Award for Shows I Wish I’d Seen Again
Thirty of my visits this year were return trips to shows I’d already seen during the year (god help me, I’m not even going to count how many were trips to shows I’d seen in previous years), but despite my status as a committed repeat attender, there were shows I wish I’d got a second chance to see and didn’t. Top of the list this year for me are ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at the RSC, ‘Richard II’ at Bristol Tobacco Factory and ‘The Kitchen’ at the National Theatre. Alas for missed opportunities.
The ‘Dust Off Your Dancing Shoes’ Award for Best Musical Revival
I’ve decided for these awards to allow myself two productions for each, don’t blame me or my lack of decisiveness, blame the ridiculously high standard this year. My best musical revival choices have to go to the delightfully charming ‘Iolanthe’ at Wilton’s Music Hall and a marvellous revival of ‘Company’ at Southwark Playhouse.
The ‘Shiny New Shoes’ Award for Best New Musical
Despite the fact that I didn’t see big hitter ‘Matilda’ this year, so it’s not eligible for me, this has still been an excellent year for new musicals. The best of a good bunch for me was the warmly funny, though sadly short lived, ‘Betty Blue Eyes’, crammed full of beautiful and memorable songs; and of course the sublimely inventive ‘London Road’ at the National, which is helping to alter perceptions of what musicals can be in a stunningly evocative, but simple fashion.
The ‘Buried Treasure’ Award for Best Play Revival
I’ve seen some truly outstanding revivals this year though the two that have stayed with me the longest has been ‘Electra’ at the Gate Theatre and ‘The Emperor and the Galilean’ at the National – the former notable for the powerful clarity of it’s almost filmic vision; the latter for the breadth of its ambition. Both have left lingering emotions and I still find myself musing on them regularly.
The ‘Brand New Gems’ Award for Best New Play
Half way through the year I fell in love with ‘Then The Snow Came’, which formed the first half of their Director’s Showcase at the Orange Tree Theatre – full of lyrical sorrow and beauty. Nothing could quite match it for me until I saw the subtle and moving ‘The Kitchen Sink’ at the Bush Theatre. Both wonderful new plays that I hope have future lives ahead.
The ‘All Night Long’ Award for Outstanding Theatrical Event of the Year
There was only one potential winner for this, the 24 hour performance of ‘66 Books’ that opened the new Bush Theatre. It was an absolute honour to be in the audience and an overwhelming experience, that I’m not sure I’ll ever see the like of again.
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