Best Actor in a Play + in a Musical

Best Actor in a Play

John Heffernan, Oppenheimer
Many are the ways in which I love Heffernan but the increasingly regularity with which he is scoring leading roles in interesting plays has to be chief among them, as for the many friends who have followed his career for a while now. And as the father of the atomic bomb here, he did not disappoint, bringing his customary diligence and intelligence to bear with the many conflicts of this fascinating character. 

Honourable mention: David Morrissey, Hangmen
The perfect exemplar for Martin McDonagh's portrait of mixed-up masculinity in '60s Oldham, Morrissey's former-hangman-turned-pub-landlord was at the same time a blistering paean to the past and a scorching reminder to let go thereof.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Everyman
Jamie Samuel, Plastic Figurines
Eelco Smits, Glazen Speelgoed
Angus Wright, Oresteia

7-10
Ron Cook, The Homecoming; Jason Hughes, Violence and Son; Cal MacAninch, My Eyes Went Dark; Henry Pettigrew, The Effect


Best Actor in a Musical

Giles Terera, Pure Imagination
These awards are about the moments that live strongest in my mind and for me, Terera sweeping me (and the rest of the audience, I suppose!) up into a world of pure imagination and candy bars is right there at the top. Rumours of him heading up a Sammy Davis Jnr musical abound but on this evidence, he should be aiming for Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory itself.

Honourable mention: Matt Henry, Kinky Boots
Derided in some parts as reality show stunt casting when first announced, Henry silenced the doubters and then some with an astonishingly assured performance as Lola, the drag queen taking most of Northampton - and herself - on quite the journey.

Ian Bartholomew, Mrs Henderson Presents
Killian Donnelly, Kinky Boots
Scott Garnham, Grand Hotel
Alex Gaumond, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

7-10
Dean John-Wilson, Songs For A New World; Alan McHale, The Clockmaker's Daughter; Haydn Oakley, The Smallest Show on Earth; Simon Paisley Day, The Lorax

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