Bally Gill wins 2019 Ian Charleson Award

Bally Gill, who starred as Romeo in the RSC's recent staging of Romeo and Juliet, has won the 2019 Ian Charleson Award.

Erica Whyman's production ran in Stratford-upon-Avon in May 2018, with WhatsOnStage critic Michael Davies describing Gill as "utterly convincing as the smitten would-be hero, half show-off and half sensitive new man".

The yearly Ian Charleson Award, which acknowledges the work of actors under 30 in a 'classical role' (defined as written before 1918), was created in memory of Charleson who starred as Hamlet at the National Theatre in 1989. He died two months after his final performance.

The second place prize went to Hannah Morrish for her performance as Octavia in the National Theatre production of Antony and Cleopatra, while the third place prize went to Luke Newberry, who played Malcolm in the RSC's Macbeth.

Previous winners include Dominic West, David Oyelowo, Rebecca Hall, Ruth Negga and Paapa Essiedu.

The full list of nominees is below:

Daniel Burke
Diomed, Troilus and Cressida
Royal Shakespeare Company/dir Gregory Doran

Bally Gill
Romeo, Romeo and Juliet
Royal Shakespeare Company/dir Erica Whyman

Heledd Gwynn
Katharine and Dauphin, Henry V
Tobacco Factory on tour/dir Elizabeth Freestone

Tyrone Huntley
Lysander, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Watermill, Newbury/dir Paul Hart

Martins Imhangbe
Bagot and Aumerle, Richard II
Almeida, London N1/dir Joe Hill-Gibbins

Toheeb Jimoh
Demetrius, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Crucible, Sheffield/dir Robert Hastie

Hannah Morrish
Octavia, Antony and Cleopatra
National Theatre, London SE1/dir Simon Godwin

Luke Newberry
Malcolm, Macbeth
Royal Shakespeare Company/dir Polly Findlay

Aaron Pierre
Cassio, Othello
Shakespeare's Globe, London SE1/dir Claire van Kampen

Ellora Torchia
Emilia, Two Noble Kinsmen
Shakespeare's Globe/dir Barrie Rutter

Helena Wilson
Mariana, Measure for Measure
Donmar Warehouse, London WC2/dir Josie Rourke