South Bank Sky Arts Awards nominees announced

The South Bank Sky Arts Awards have announced their 2016 nominations with Oresteia at the Almeida Theatre, People, Places and Things at the National Theatre and Hangmen at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court among the theatre nominees.

The awards, which are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, are unique in focusing on the arts in their entirety and are due to take place in London on 5 June. Other nominations include an embroidery of the Magna Carta by artist Cornelia Parker, Northern Ballet’s 1984 and Woolf Works from the Royal Ballet.

The 10 categories include theatre, dance, opera, comedy, TV drama, literature, classical music, pop, film and visual art, along with the Times breakthrough award, which recognises up-and-coming talent and an outstanding achievement award.

Previous winners have included artist Anish Kapoor, director Shane Meadows, band Arctic Monkeys, director Sam Mendes, author Ian McEwan and playwright Michael Frayn as well as Peter Hall, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard and Helen Mirren.

The South Bank Sky Arts Awards originated in 1996 in association with the South Bank Show and will be shown on Sky Arts on 8 June.

Editor and host Melvyn Bragg said in a statement: "The South Bank Sky Arts Awards freeze-frame on a unique moment in British cultural history. It's when thirty nominees in ten categories across the Arts, from Opera to Pop Music, from Comedy to Theatre, meet to celebrate the best work being done by artists in this country across a wide range of ages and backgrounds."

Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts, added, "The awards bring together probably the most inspiring room full of creative people it’s possible to assemble."

A full list of this year's nominations is below:

Classical music
• Stephen Hough International Piano Series: Debussy and Chopin, Royal Festival Hall
• City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: Andris Nelsons’ Farewell Concert, Symphony Hall
• Mark Simpson: The Immortal

Literature
• Sarah Hall: The Wolf Border
• Sunjeev Sahota: The Year of the Runaways
• Tessa Hadley: The Past

Theatre
• Oresteia, Almeida Theatre
• People, Places & Things, National Theatre and Headlong
• Hangmen, Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre

Pop
• Benjamin Clementine: At Least for Now
• Years & Years: Communion
• Sleaford Mods: Key Markets

Comedy
• Catastrophe, Channel 4
• Peter Kay’s Car Share, BBC1
• Chewing Gum, E4

TV drama
• Wolf Hall, BBC 2
• Humans, Channel 4
• Doctor Foster, BBC 1

Opera
• Krόl Roger, Royal Opera House
• Saul, Glyndebourne
• Force of Destiny, English National Opera

Visual Art
• Cornelia Parker: Magna Carta (An Embroidery), British Library
• Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Verses After Dusk, Serpentine Gallery
• Banksy: Dismaland Bemusement Park

Film
• Ex Machina
• 45 Years
• Brooklyn

Dance
• Woolf Works, Royal Ballet
• 1984, Northern Ballet
• Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me), Lost Dog