Oliviers 2014: hits, misses and (very few) surprises

The sun shone delightfully upon the red carpet leading into the Royal Opera House, with some of theatre’s greatest stars creative minds gracing it. Walking alongside the likes of ABBA and what seemed like a hundred Mormons, the Olivier Awards were set to maintain their heralded status as ‘the most entertaining night in theatre’ even at their outset.

 The list of stars continued with the varied presenters, including the talents of James McAvoy, Samantha Banks and Barbara Windsor, each bringing their own flair to their presentations. A particular crowd favourite was Martin Freeman’s presentation for the Best Comedy category, in which he pondered the idea of comedy by repeating the word incredulously before stepping off the stage. The superb hosting by Stephen Manghan and Gemma Arterton lent itself to a seamless and entertaining show for both those at the ceremony and those viewing at home.

Setting the tone of the evening was Ghosts, sweeping the wins for Best Revival and Best Actor in a Supporting role for Jack Lowden, both within the first ten minutes. This then continued, with Lesley Manville winning Best Actress for her role in Ghosts.

The highly contested Best Actor category featured three Shakespearian productions with Tom Hiddleston for Coriolanus, Rory Kinnear for Othello and Jude Law for Henry V , with Henry Goodman for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui as the veritable dark horse in a category full of some of the most famed plays in theatre.  All four of the nominees were highly deserving, but Kinnear’s performance pipped the other nominees to the post. Kinnear was humble and gracious as he accepted the award, praising his fellow company for the production’s success.

Despite the significant skew of the media attention being focused upon the plays and musicals nominated, one must not forget the Operatic and Dance aspects of the Olivier Awards. Les Vêpres Siciliennes at the Royal Opera House won Best New Opera and the English Touring Opera winning Outstanding Achievement in Opera, although all of the respective nominees could have easily taken the revered prize.

The Book Of Mormon predictably echoed last year’s Tony Awards with four Oliviers, winning for Best Actor in a Musical (Gavin Creel), Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Stephen Ashfield), Best Theatre Choreographer (Casey Nicholaw) and MasterCard Best New Musical.

For the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre took the prize, after a delightful open air performance in Covent Garden, highlighting once again that although the academy may enjoy more artistic and innovative productions, audiences will always return to what they know and love.

The one surprise in what was a quite predictable evening was the success of the Almeida Theatre, which hosted Ghosts and  Lucy Kinwood’s Chimerica, a relatively small production whose many awards came as a surprise to some of the audience and the cast themselves. Chimerica left the ceremony with the Oliviers for Best Lighting Design (Tim Lutkin and Finn Ross), Best Sound Design (Carolyn Dowling) and Best Set Design (Es Devlin).

The Donmar Warehouse’s production of Coriolanus left empty handed, as did every entry of the Donmar’s, much to my own personal surprise. Having seen the production numerous times both live and through NT Live, the nominations of messieurs Hiddleston and Gatiss for lead and supporting roles respectively were well deserved. However, despite the overwhelming public success of the production, it’s clear that the voting panel will not be swayed by public demand.

One key issue with the Oliviers and indeed, all awards ceremonies is that there can only be one winner, and often incredibly deserving theatres and productions are left empty handed, as larger productions sweep the categories. This year, the incredibly well received production of The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic was given five nominations and yet left empty handed, bowing to the still deserved accolades of The Book of Mormon.

Intermediate musical performances from shows such as Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Les Miserables and Mamma Mia! helped craft a continuously entertaining night, culminating in a memorable evening truly fitting of the caliber of the attendees and the establishment of British theatre as a whole.