Evening Standard Announces Award Winners, Including CURSED CHILD, Glenn Close, Kenneth Branagh, and More!

Following a ceremony at the Old Vic, the winners of the Evening Standard Awards have been revealed. The list includes West End juggernaut, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; visionary of stage and screen, Kenneth Branagh; legend and star of Sunset Boulevard, Glenn Close; and more!

The Evening Standard Awards remain a reminder of the importance of professional theatre criticism and its role in the theatre. Moreover, with the Awards' commitment to honoring both emerging and veteran talents, the annual event serves as an underscore to the necessity of arts education at every level. Indeed, when accepting the award for Best Musical, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber ended his speech with a plea to the Prime Minister to "stop cutting the arts in schools."

For original coverage of the awards ceremony, click here.

Check out the full list of nominees and winners below!

Best Actor

Winner: Ralph Fiennes - The Master Builder (Old Vic)/Richard III (Almeida)
Kenneth Branagh - The Entertainer (Garrick)
O-T Fagbenle - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (National Theatre's, Lyttelton)
James McArdle - Platonov (Chichester Festival Theatre/National Theatre, Olivier)
Ian McKellan - No Man's Land (Wyndham's Theatre)

Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress

Winner: Billie Piper - Yerma (Young Vic)
Noma Dumezweni- Linda (Royal Court, Jerwood Downstairs)
Helen McCrory - The Deep Blue Sea (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Sophie Melville - Iphigenia in Splott (Sherman Cymru/National Theatre/Temporary Theatre)

Best Musical Performance

Winner: Glenn Close - Sunset Boulevard (Coliseum)
Andy Karl - Groundhog Day (The Old Vic)
SheriDan Smith - Funny Girl (Savoy)

Best Play

Winner: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne, J K Rowling & John Tiffany (Palace Theatre)
Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1,2 & 3) , by Suzan-Lori Parks (Royal Court, Jerwood Downstairs)
The Flick, by Annie Baker (National Theatre, Dorfman)

Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical*

Winner: Jesus Christ Superstar - Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Funny Girl - Menier Chocolate Factory/Savoy
Groundhog Day - Old Vic
Guys and Dolls - Savoy/Phoenix
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour - National Theatre, Dorfman
Sunset Boulevard - Coliseum

Milton Shulman Award for Best Director

Winner: John Malkovich - Good Canary (Rose Kingston)
Dominic Cooke - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
John Tiffany - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace)

Best Revival

Winner: No Man's Land - Wyndham's (dir Sean Mathias)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - National Theatre, Lyttelton (dir Dominic Cooke)
Young Chekhov: Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull - Chichester Festival Theatre/National Theatre, Olivier
Les Blancs - National Theatre, Olivier (dir Yael Farber)

Best Design

Winner: Gareth Fry with Peter Malkin (sound design) - The Encounter(Edinburgh International Festival/Barbican)
Jon Bausor - You For Me For You (Royal Court, Jerwood Upstairs)
Rob Howell - The Master Builder (Old Vic)/Groundhog Day (Old Vic)

Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright

Winner: Charlene James - Cuttin' It (Young Vic/Royal Court/Yard)
Jon Brittain - Rotterdam (Theatre503/Trafalgar Studios)
David Ireland - Cyprus Avenue (Royal Court, Jerwood Upstairs)

Emerging Talent Award in partnership with Burberry

Winner: Tyrone Huntley - Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre)
Jaygann Ayeh - The Flick (National Theatre, Dorfman)
Anthony Boyle - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace)
Aoife Duffin - A Girl is a Half-formed Thing (Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin & Young Vic) and The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare's Globe)

Beyond Theatre Award

David Attenborough, for his contribution to broadcasting

Editor's Award

Good Chance Theatre

Lebedev Award

Kenneth Branagh, for his plays at the Garrick