A host of Hollywood actors including Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Keira Knightley have been nominated for Laurence Olivier Awards.
The Donmar Warehouse garnered 10 nominations across five productions, including A Streetcar Named Desire starring 39-year-old Weisz as Blanche DuBois and Jude Law in Hamlet. The National Theatre has nine nominations.
Jude Law and James McAvoy, better known for their onscreen exploits in films like Sherlock Holmes and Atonement, are among those battling it out for Best Actor.
And Gillian Anderson, of The X-Files fame, is going head-to-head with Rachel Weisz for the honour of Best Actress.
Keira Knightley, 24, McAvoy’s co-star in Atonement, who together with Weisz is one of Britain’s most bankable female stars, has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Jennifer in a re-working of Moliere’s The Misanthrope at the Comedy Theatre.
Law, 37, nominated for playing the lead role in the Donmar Warehouse’s Hamlet, described it as a “huge honour” to be nominated.
He said: “It’s been an extraordinary year for London theatre and in particular straight plays and to be nominated in such great company is a real privilege and a pleasure.”
McAvoy, 30, who leapt to widespread public attention with his performance as a naive Scottish doctor in The Last King of Scotland, based during Idi Amin’s brutal rule of Uganda, said he was “absolutely delighted”.
“Considering the quality of acting in the last year I feel very honoured,” he said.
The Royal Court Theatre led the nominations, with 15 across four productions including Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth and Enron by Lucy Prebble.
The Donmar Warehouse garnered 10 nominations across five productions, including A Streetcar Named Desire starring 39-year-old Weisz as Blanche DuBois and Jude Law in Hamlet. The National Theatre has nine nominations.
Spring Awakening at the Novello Theatre tops the nominations like for an individual production, despite the alternative rock musical about teenage angst closing five months early.
Nica Burns, president of the Society of London Theatres (SOLT), which organises the awards, said: “In an outstanding year for drama, a whole new generation of playwrights step into the spotlight.
“Eight wonderful new plays – challenging, stimulating and inspiring – include two women in their twenties. Mirroring this, the voting for the best acting awards was so close that the nominations had to be increased, with some of the most exciting young acting talent around taking their place alongside some our most acclaimed screen stars. What a memorable year!”
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, London, on Sunday 21 March.
