Michael Portillo
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Portillo & De Jongh Clash as Winners Thank Critics

The ceremony for the 15th annual Critics Circle Awards, held this afternoon at the West End’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, contained more than the usual amount of shocks and surprises (See Today’s Other News for full list of winners).

Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo (pictured), who’s recently been made theatre critic at the New Statesman magazine (See The Goss, 19 Jan 2004), gave an opening speech in which he confessed that his appointment was “very amusing” even to him and that he felt a “terrible fraud” because of his lack of experience.

That admission, however, was not the controversial bit. Praising the “extraordinary talent” amongst actors, writers, directors and other creatives, Portillo went on to “pay tribute to the importance of theatre. In this country, even before the free press, the theatre has always symbolised freedom of expression, freedom of speech, the right to be critical and satirise those in power…. It remains one of the signs by which people outside the UK know that we are a free society.”

Coming on a few moments later to present the award for Best Designer to Mourning Becomes Electra’s Bob Crowley, Nicholas de Jongh, the outspoken Evening Standard critic and author of the book on stage censorship Politics, Prudery & Perversions, didn’t hesitate in denouncing Portillo’s comments as the most ridiculous ‘drivel’ he’d ever heard.

“We have just lived through a century of suppression and repression of the theatre that only ended in 1968,” De Jongh railed, to a smattering of applause, which was silenced by one angry voice in the audience shouting out in response, “this is not the time to speak such rubbish!”

CRITICS’ CIRCLE WINNERS’ REMARKS

Winners, of course, also got to have their say on receiving their various awards. Amongst them:

Eve Best was not available to accept her award, for Best Actress for Mourning Becomes Electra, due to filming commitments. The actress first came to the attention of the Critics’ Circle five years ago, playing opposite Jude Law in ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, for which she went on to win the 2000 award for Most Promising Newcomer.

- by Terri Paddock

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Our own 2004 Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awards were also announced today (See Today’s Other News). To view the full list of those winners & nominees, click here.

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