Richard Jordan questions whether reform to the Oliver Awards nominations process has ensured that the industry's premier awards 'still reflect the year in London theatre'.
More than ever, this year’s Olivier Award nominations reflect the change since the Society of London Theatre, and its strong commercial membership, reviewed its judging process. The changes were made in an attempt to better address the balance between the commercial West End and subsidised theatre.
Subsidised theatre is well represented in the 2015 Oliver nominations: The Young Vic got 11 nods, the Royal Shakespeare Company got five, the Royal Court (also five), Hampstead Theatre (seven), The Almeida (six), Donmar Warehouse (six) and the Tricycle (two). However, the majority of these nominations represent only a small cluster of subsidised theatre productions: A View from the Bridge, The Scottsboro Boys, Wolf Hall/Bring Up The Bodies, The Nether, Sunny Afternoon, King Charles III, My Night With Reg and Handbagged. These are all credible, bespoke productions but all are commercial West End transfers too.
What this suggests is that if you want to get an Olivier nod in the principal categories, you work should have transferred. And if that’s the case, it calls into questions whether the theatre industry’s premier awards still really reflect the year in London theatre...Keep reading on The Stage
More than ever, this year’s Olivier Award nominations reflect the change since the Society of London Theatre, and its strong commercial membership, reviewed its judging process. The changes were made in an attempt to better address the balance between the commercial West End and subsidised theatre.
Subsidised theatre is well represented in the 2015 Oliver nominations: The Young Vic got 11 nods, the Royal Shakespeare Company got five, the Royal Court (also five), Hampstead Theatre (seven), The Almeida (six), Donmar Warehouse (six) and the Tricycle (two). However, the majority of these nominations represent only a small cluster of subsidised theatre productions: A View from the Bridge, The Scottsboro Boys, Wolf Hall/Bring Up The Bodies, The Nether, Sunny Afternoon, King Charles III, My Night With Reg and Handbagged. These are all credible, bespoke productions but all are commercial West End transfers too.
What this suggests is that if you want to get an Olivier nod in the principal categories, you work should have transferred. And if that’s the case, it calls into questions whether the theatre industry’s premier awards still really reflect the year in London theatre...Keep reading on The Stage