Nominees for 2019 Ian Charleson Awards announced
Posted on 26 May 2020
Created in 1991, one year after the beloved Scottish actor Ian Charleson († 40) passed away, the Ian Charleson Awards is meant to honour the best performances in classical roles by actors under 30 years of age. Run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre, the institution has now released the shortlist of nominees for this year's ceremony. Find out who has been nominated below.
2019 Ian Charleson Awards shortlist announced!
The Charlesons reward actors under the age of 30 performing in a classical role, which is defined as being pre-1918. The awards ceremony was initiated in tribute to the Ian Charleson, who died in 1990 shortly after appearing in Hamlet at the National Theatre.
Previous Ian Charleson winners include Emma Fielding (1993, for Agnes in The School for Wives at the Almeida Theatre), David Oyelowo, (2000, for the titular role in Henry VI, Royal Shakespeare Company), Paapa Essiedu (2016, for the titular role in Hamlet and Edmund in King Lear, RSC), Andrea Riseborough (2006, for Isabella in Measure for Measure and the titular role in Miss Julie, Peter Hall Company), Dominic West (1997, for Konstantin in The Seagull, Peter Hall Company and Old Vic Theatre), and Bally Gill (2018, for Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, RSC).
This year's awards ceremony, which has been delayed for obvious reasons, has 12 nominees in total. The results will be announced in an upcoming issue of Culture.
The Bridge Theatre's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream has managed to rake in three nominations in total for co-stars Hammed Animashaun, Isis Hainsworth, and Kit Young. Meanwhile, Heledd Gwynn has been nominated for two of her roles, including Ratcliffe in Headlong's Richard III and the lead role of Hedda in Hedda Gabler.
Despite being an updated, ultra-modern version of Edmond Rostand's original 1897 play that featured a rapping James McAvoy, Jamie Lloyd's Cyrano de Bergerac — freely adapted by Martin Crimp — still met the criteria for the Ian Charleson Awards this year. The show can boast more street cred now after earning a nomination for Eben Figueiredo as Christian. Find out who else has been nominated below.
Ian Charleson Awards 2019 nominees in full
- Billy Postlethwaite for Macbeth in Macbeth at the Watermill Theatre
- Eben Figueiredo for Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac at Jamie Lloyd Company at the Playhouse Theatre
- Ebony Jonelle for Rosalind in As You Like It for the National Theatre Public Acts/Queen's Theatre Hornchurch
- Ekow Quartey for Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe
- Hammed Animashaun for Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre
- Heledd Gwynn for Hedda in Hedda Gabler at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff and Hastings and Ratcliffe in Richard III for Headlong
- Ioanna Kimbook for Cariola in The Duchess of Malfi at the Almeida
- Isis Hainsworth for Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre
- Kit Young for Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre
- Kitty Archer for Mariane in Tartuffe at the National Theatre
- Racheal Ofori for Udo in Three Sisters at the National Theatre
- Ronke Adekoluejo for Abosede in Three Sisters at the National Theatre
By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
Ephram is a jack of all trades and enjoys attending theatre, classical music concerts and the opera.