Cate Blanchett, Laurie Metcalf and More Make Evening Standard Theatre Awards Longlist

The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and this year's nominations shortlist has just been announced. Sponsored by the Evening Standard newspaper, this year's winners revealed on November 25.

The full shortlist is as follows:

Best Play

Constellations
Nick Payne (Royal Court Upstairs)

Love and Information
Caryl Churchill (Royal Court Downstairs)

This House
James Graham (National’s Cottesloe)

Best Director

Carrie Cracknell
A Doll’s House (Young Vic)

Nicholas Hytner
Timon of Athens (National’s Olivier)

James MacDonald
Love and Information (Royal Court Downstairs)

Ian Rickson
Hamlet (Young Vic)

Best Actor

Simon Russell Beale
Collaborators (National’s Cottesloe)

Charles Edwards
The King’s Speech (Wyndham’s) and This House (National’s Cottesloe)

Adrian Lester
Red Velvet (Tricycle Theatre)

Luke Treadaway
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (National Theatre’s Cottesloe)

Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress

Eileen Atkins
All That Fall (Jermyn Street and Arts)

Cate Blanchett
Big and Small (Sydney Theatre Company for Barbican)

Laurie Metcalf
Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Apollo)

Hattie Morahan
A Doll’s House (Young Vic)

Ned Sherrin Award For Best Musical

Singin’ In the Rain
Chichester Festival and Palace Theatre

Swallows and Amazons
Bristol Old Vic production presented by National Theatre in association with The Children’s Touring Partnership at the Vaudeville Theatre

Sweeney Todd
Chichester Festival and Adelphi

Best Design

Miriam Buether
Wild Swans (Young Vic/American Repertory Theater/Actors Touring Company co-production)

Soutra Gilmour
Inadmissible Evidence (Donmar Warehouse) and Antigone (National’s Olivier)

Ian MacNeil
A Doll’s House (Young Vic)

Charles Wintour Award For Most Promising Playwright

Lolita Chakrabarti
Red Velvet (Tricycle)

John Hodge
Collaborators (National’s Cottesloe)

Tom Wells
The Kitchen Sink (Bush)

Milton Shulman Award For Outstanding Newcomer

Denise Gough
Our New Girl (Bush) and Desire Under the Elms (Lyric Hammersmith)

Abby Rakic-Platt
Vera Vera Vera (Royal Court Upstairs and Theatre Local Peckham)

Matthew Tennyson
Making Noise Quietly (Donmar Warehouse)