Shortlists announced for 60th Evening Standard Awards

The shortlists have been revealed for the 60th Evening Standard Theatre Awards, which will be announced at the London Palladium on 30 November 2014.

The acting categories feature names including Tom Hiddleston, Mark Strong, Gillian Anderson and Billie Piper, while the Southwark Playhouse revival of Dogfight will fight it out with The Scottsboro Boys, Here Lies Love and Sunny Afternoon for Best Musical.

In the Best Play category, the resurgence of contemporary history plays is recognised with the presence of The James Plays and King Charles III on the shortlist.

Best Director meanwhile will be a contest between Brits Stephen Daldry (Skylight) and Jeremy Herrin (Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies), and South Africa's Yaël Farber (The Crucible) and Belgium's Ivo van Hove (A View from the Bridge).

Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, said: "It's been an honour to host these Awards for the past five years now and a privilege to see them through to 2014, 60 years on from when Peter Hall's seminal production of Waiting for Godot won the award for Most Controversial Play.

"London's theatre scene is as vivid and dynamic today as it was then, if not more so. For me it's what makes London the arts capital of the world. I take huge pleasure in offering my congratulations to all those shortlisted."

The winners will be announced during a special anniversary ceremony on Sunday 30 November at the Palladium, presented by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.

Full shortlists for 2014 Evening Standard Awards

BEST ACTOR

Tom Hiddleston – Coriolanus, Donmar Warehouse
Ben Miles – Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies,
RSC Swan & Aldwych
Mark Strong – A View from the Bridge, Young Vic

NATASHA RICHARDSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS

Gillian Anderson A Streetcar Named Desire, Young Vic
Helen McCrory Medea, National Theatre's Olivier
Tanya Moodie Intimate Apparel, Ustinov Bath & Park Theatre
Billie Piper Great Britain, National Theatre's Lyttelton
Kristin Scott Thomas Electra, Old Vic

NOOK AWARD FOR BEST PLAY

Intimate Apparel – Lynn Nottage, Ustinov Bath & Park Theatre
The James Plays – Rona Munro, Edinburgh Festival Theatre & National Theatre's Olivier
King Charles III – Mike Bartlett, Almeida & Wyndham's
The Nether – Jennifer Haley, Royal Court

NED SHERRIN AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL

Dogfight – Southwark Playhouse
Here Lies Love – National Theatre's Dorfman
The Scottsboro Boys – Young Vic & Garrick
Sunny Afternoon – Hampstead & Harold Pinter Theatre

MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR

Stephen Daldry – Skylight, Wyndham's
Yaël Farber – The Crucible, Old Vic
Jeremy Herrin – Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies, RSC Swan & Aldwych
Ivo van Hove – A View from the Bridge, Young Vic

EMERGING TALENT AWARD IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BURBERRY

Matthew Beard – for his performance in Skylight, Wyndham's
John Dagleish – for his performance in Sunny Afternoon, Hampstead
& Harold Pinter Theatre
Robert Hastie – for his direction of My Night With Reg, Donmar Warehouse
Laura Jane Matthewson – for her performance in
Dogfight, Southwark Playhouse

BEST DESIGN IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HEAL'S

Bunny Christie – Emil and the Detectives, National Theatre's Olivier
Es Devlin – American Psycho, Almeida
Mark Henderson (Lighting designer) – Kate Bush's Before the Dawn, Eventim Apollo
Ashley Martin-Davis – Wonderland, Hampstead

CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT

Barney Norris – Visitors, Arcola
Dan O'Brien – The Body of an American, Northampton Royal & Derngate & Gate Notting Hill
Beth Steel – Wonderland, Hampstead