Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in shortlist for South Bank Sky Arts Awards
© Manuel Harlan
The awards recognise culture in the UK across ten categories – comedy, classical music, dance, film, literature, opera, pop music, theatre, TV drama and visual arts.
Nominees this year include Skepta, for his album Konnichiwa and Opera North for its production of Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen.
In theatre, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is nominated alongside The Shakespeare Trilogy – the Donmar's productions at King's Cross and Yerma which will be returning to London later this year. In the comedy category, Phoebe Waller-Bridge was also nominated for Fleabag, her TV series which was based on her original play.
Kate O'Flynn, about to star in Anatomy of a Suicide and who recently ran in The Glass Menagerie, has also been nominated for the Times Breakthrough Award in the theatre category.
Thorne, who wrote Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, was also recognised in the TV drama category for his series National Treasure.
The awards originated in 1997 in association with The South Bank Show, spearheaded by presenter and writer Melvyn Bragg. The nominees list in each category is created via an independent judging panel.
Bragg commented: "The South Bank Sky Arts Awards are the only major awards wholly dedicated to the arts. They cover the spectrum and are focused on the best in the British arts which over the last couple of generations have steadily moved to the front in world status. "
The winners will be announced in a ceremony on 9 July.
Full list of nominees
Classical Music
Tom Coult, Spirit of the Staircase, London Sinfonietta/Martyn Brabbins
Dunedin Consort, Monteverdi Vespers, Lammermuir Festival
Philharmonia Orchestra, Stravinsky: Myths & Rituals
Comedy
Camping, Sky Atlantic
Fleabag, BBC Three
People Just Do Nothing, BBC Three
Dance
English National Ballet, Akram Khan’s Giselle
Richard Alston Dance Company, An Italian in Madrid
Northern Ballet, Jane Eyre
Film
American Honey
I, Daniel Blake
Under the Shadow
Literature
The Gustav Sonata, Rose Tremain
The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between, Hisham Matar
Swing Time, Zadie Smith
Opera
4.48 Psychosis, Royal Opera House
Nothing, Glyndebourne Youth Opera
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle), Opera North
Pop Music
The 1975, "I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it"
David Bowie, "Blackstar"
Skepta, "Konnichiwa"
Theatre
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Palace Theatre
The Shakespeare Trilogy, Donmar at King’s Cross
Yerma, Young Vic
TV Drama
Happy Valley, BBC One
National Treasure, Channel 4
The Crown, Netflix
Visual Art
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea
George Shaw: My Back to Nature
Artangel, Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison
Times Breakthrough Nominees:
Classical – Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Comedy – Kieran Hodgson
Dance – Vidya Patel
Film – Lewis MacDougall
Literature – Joseph Knox
Opera – Natalya Romaniw
Pop Music – Sampha
Theatre – Kate O’Flynn
TV Drama – Malachi Kirby Visual Art – Rachel Kneebone
The Outstanding Achievement Award will be announced on the day of the ceremony
