Theatre News

20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards winners include Andrew Scott, Claire Foy, Come From Away and Six

The winners of the 20th Awards have been revealed

Winners Rachel Tucker, Miriam-Teak Lee, Andrew Scott, Claire Foy and Sam Tutty, alongside the inaugural Audience Award for Best West End Musical winners Six
Winners Rachel Tucker, Miriam-Teak Lee, Andrew Scott, Claire Foy and Sam Tutty, alongside the inaugural Audience Award for Best West End Musical winners Six
© All save far right: Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage, far left: Eleanor Howarth

The winners of the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced.

Andrew Scott and Claire Foy reigned supreme in the play categories, picking up the Best Actor and Best Actress awards for their respective shows – Present Laughter and Lungs, both at the Old Vic.

Scott's co-star Sophie Thompson was also recognised for her supporting performance in the Old Vic's revival of Noël Coward's comedy, while the Best Supporting Actor Award was given to Hammed Animashaun for his side-splitting performance in the Bridge Theatre's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Brand new musical & Juliet, which features the songs of music maker legend Max Martin, won the most awards on the night – six – including one for Best Actress in a Musical for star Miriam-Teak Lee.

Following closely behind is Broadway hit Come From Away, which won five awards from five nominations, including the coveted Best New Musical. One of the show's stars, Rachel Tucker, picked up the Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Award, her second after previously winning in 2011 for Best Takeover in a Role (Elphaba in Wicked).

The winner of the inaugural BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best West End Musical (shortlisted shows must have run for longer than a year in the West End) was Six the Musical, which continues its run at the Arts Theatre and is now booking into 2021.

Lolita Chakrabarti's adaptation of the seminal novel Life of Pi, which premiered at Sheffield Theatres last year, won the Best New Play award: audiences in London will be treated to the piece when it transfers to the capital in the summer.

Director Jamie Lloyd was a big winner on the night, with his West End production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal – with Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox – winning Best Play Revival. Lloyd himself won the Best Direction Award for his Open Air Theatre revival of Evita, which heads to the Barbican Theatre later this year.

Tony Award-winning titan Dear Evan Hansen won two awards – Best Actor in a Musical for its breakout star Sam Tutty, and Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Jack Loxton.

The Equity Award for Services to Theatre was awarded to ERA 50:50, a movement set up by actors Lizzie Berrington and Polly Kemp that campaigns to see women represented on screen, in television and in theatre in equal numbers to men.

For the first time this year, the Awards were broadcast live on BBC Radio 2, with Elaine Paige and Paddy O'Connell having first chats with winners, guests and more.

WhatsOnStage's COO Sita McIntosh said: "In our 20th year, we'd also like to say a particular thank you to the audiences who are the lifeblood of our Awards, voting in their thousands. Their support and championing of shows is what keeps our industry alive. It's galvanising to see that a play that has never been staged in London has picked up the Best New Play Award, showing how the WhatsOnStage Awards really are decided by audiences across the nation.

"For Lolita Chakrabarti to win is equally exciting, in a category dominated by diverse and cutting-edge voices. Working alongside BBC Radio 2 this year has taken the Awards onto a whole new level, and to have new kids on the block SIX the Musical pick up the inaugural Audience Award for Best Musical shows just how much West End theatregoers can welcome bold and brilliant shows with open arms."

The full list of winners (in bold) and nominees:

The Equity Award for Services to Theatre

ERA 50:50

The BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical

Six the Musical

Best Actor in a Play, sponsored by Edwardian Hotels

Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Andrew Scott – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Matt Smith – Lungs – The Old Vic
Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Laurie Kynaston – The Son – Kiln Theatre / Duke of York's Theatre

Best Actress in a Play, sponsored by Tonic Theatre

Claire Foy – Lungs – The Old Vic
Zawe Ashton – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Hayley Atwell – Rosmersholm – Duke of York's Theatre
Sharon D Clarke – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Juliet Stevenson – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre

Best Supporting Actor in a Play

Alexander Vlahos – Peter Pan – Park Theatre
Charlie Cox – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Hareet Deol – My Beautiful Laundrette – A Curve Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production
Hammed Animashaun – A Midsummer Night's Dream – Bridge Theatre
Giles Terera – Rosmersholm – Duke of York's Theatre

Best Supporting Actress in a Play

Ria Zmitrowicz – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre
Isabella Pappas – Appropriate – Donmar Warehouse
Monica Dolan – All About Eve – Noël Coward Theatre
Sophie Thompson – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Indira Varma – Present Laughter – The Old Vic

Best Actor in a Musical, sponsored by Dewynters

David Hunter – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Sam Tutty – Dear Evan Hansen – Noël Coward Theatre
Jac Yarrow – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Oliver Tompsett – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Charlie Stemp – Mary Poppins – Prince Edward Theatre

Best Actress in a Musical, sponsored by Café de Paris

Lucie Jones – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Katharine McPhee – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Miriam-Teak Lee – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Tracie Bennett – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
Zizi Strallen – Mary Poppins – Prince Edward Theatre

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical

Joe Sugg – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Jack Loxton – Dear Evan Hansen – Noël Coward Theatre
Jordan Luke Gage – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Oscar Conlon-Morrey – Only Fools and Horses the Musical – Theatre Royal Haymarket
Jason Donovan – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, sponsored by Newman Displays

Laura Baldwin – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Marisha Wallace – Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
Cassidy Janson – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Melanie La Barrie – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Rachel Tucker – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre

Best New Play, sponsored by Ticketmaster

The Doctor – Robert Icke – Almeida Theatre
The Son – Florian Zeller – Kiln Theatre / Duke of York's Theatre
My Beautiful Laundrette – Hanif Kureishi – A Curve Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production
Life of Pi – Lolita Chakrabarti – Sheffield Theatres
Appropriate – Branden Jacobs-Jenkins – Donmar Warehouse

Best Play Revival, sponsored by JHI Marketing

Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Present Laughter– The Old Vic
A Midsummer Night's Dream – Bridge Theatre
Lungs – The Old Vic

Best New Musical, sponsored by h Club London

Waitress – Adelphi Theatre
& Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre and Opera House, Manchester
Dear Evan Hansen – Noël Coward Theatre
Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Only Fools and Horses the Musical – Theatre Royal Haymarket

Best Musical Revival, sponsored by Concord Theatricals

Mary Poppins – Prince Edward Theatre
Evita – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
9 to 5 the Musical – Savoy Theatre

Best Off-West End Production, sponsored by Les Misérables

Fiver – Southwark Playhouse
The View UpStairs – Soho Theatre
High Fidelity – The Turbine Theatre
Preludes – Southwark Playhouse
Falsettos – The Other Palace

Best Regional Production, sponsored by MTI Europe

Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
The Color Purple – A Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production
Life of Pi – Sheffield Theatres
My Beautiful Laundrette – A Curve Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production
West Side Story – Royal Exchange, Manchester

Best Choreography

Fabian Aloise – Evita – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Matthew Bourne – Romeo and Juliet – UK tour
Kelly Devine – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Jennifer Weber – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Nick Winston – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre

Best Costume Design

Lez Brotherston – Romeo and Juliet – UK tour
Katrina Lindsay – Small Island – National Theatre
Rob Howell – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Philip Witcomb – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
Paloma Young – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre

Best Direction, sponsored by LOVEtheatre

Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Robert Icke – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre
Jamie Lloyd – Evita – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Matthew Warchus – Lungs – The Old Vic
Matthew Warchus – Present Laughter – The Old Vic

Best Graphic Direction, sponsored by Hexagon Print

& Juliet – Dewynters
Captain Corelli's Mandolin – Muse Creative Communications
Equus – Feast Creative
Evita – Feast Creative
Rosmersholm – Bob King Creative

Best Lighting Design, sponsored by White Light

Jon Clark – Evita – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Ben Cracknell – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Howard Hudson – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Jessica Hung Han Yun – Equus – UK tour
Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone – Present Laughter – The Old Vic

Best Musical Direction, sponsored by AKA

Ian Eisendrath, Alan Berry and team – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Kimberly Grigsby – The Light in the Piazza – Southbank Centre
Alex Parker – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
John Rigby – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The London Palladium
Alan Williams – Evita – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

Best Set Design, sponsored by Sine Digital

Soutra Gilmour – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Soutra Gilmour – Evita – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Rob Howell – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Robert Jones – The Light in the Piazza – Southbank Centre
Rae Smith – The Night of the Iguana – Noël Coward Theatre

Best Sound Design, sponsored by Stage Sound Services

Ben Harrison – Mame – Hope Mill Theatre
Nick Lidster – Evita – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Gareth Owen – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Gareth Owen – Come From Away – Phoenix Theatre
Mick Potter – The Light in the Piazza – Southbank Centre

Best Video Design, sponsored by PRG

Jon Driscoll – Small Island – National Theatre
Will Duke – Grief is the Thing With Feathers – Barbican Theatre
Andrzej Goulding – & Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
P J McEvoy – Falsettos – The Other Palace
Ewan Jones Morris – A Very Expensive Poison – The Old Vic