A special ceremony was held last night for the Olivier Awards 2020 that was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The awards were hosted by Comedian Jason Manford at the London Palladium and featured performances from Miriam Teak Lee, Sharon D Clarke and Sam Tutty.
The event had originally been scheduled for April, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Award winners included Juliet and Dear Evan Hansen who took home three awards each. Actor Andrew Scott took home Best New Actor for his performance in Present Laughter at the Old Vic commenting that humor is “something that’s helped us all survive in the past couple of months during this really arduous time”.
Sharon D. Clarke was named best actress for her performance as Linda Loman in the Young Vic’s Death Of A Salesman. In her acceptance speech, Clake commented “We must know our worth in this industry, and what our incredible industry brings not only to the coffers but to the soul of our nation. Keep the faith people. We will be back.”
Sir Matthew Bourne made another shatter Olivier Awards records with his win for Mary Poppins (co-awarded with Stephen Mear). The award made Sir Matthew the most successful individual in the history of the awards.
Sir Ian McKellen was celebrated with a special award for this 80th Birthday Tour which saw him tour theatres across the UK raising much-needed funds for theatres across the country. And this was his seventh Olivier
Julian Bird, the executive producer of the Olivier Awards and chief executive of the Society of London Theatre, said: “This is not how we had originally planned to celebrate this year’s outstanding Olivier nominees, but like so many others we have adapted to these challenging times. I am thrilled that we have been able to safely pull together this program that will hopefully engage and inspire audiences at home while reminding them of the talent and vibrancy within our theatre industry.”
The full list of winners can be found here
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