Shortlist Announced for The Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography 2015

The Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography 2015 shortlist has been revealed. The contenders are Peter Whitebrook for John Osborne Anger is not about..., James Shapiro for 1606 William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear, David Hare for The Blue Touch Paper, Qais Akbar Omar and Stephen Landrigan for A Night in the Emperor's Garden and Michael Pennington for Let Me Play The Lion/How to Be an Actor.

Now in its ninth year, the prize is awarded for the best theatrical biography, autobiography or diary published in the preceding calendar year. It was established in 2008 to honour Sheridan Morley's career as an author who specialised in biographies of actors, directors, and theatre and film personalities, including his own acclaimed memoir, Asking for Trouble. In his lifetime, he wrote 37 books, the majority of which were biographies - amongst them, the authorised lives of Sir John Gielgud, Sir Noël Coward, and David Niven.

The Prize is judged by a distinguished jury of theatrical and literary practitioners and the previous year's winning author. Chaired by Ruth Leon, this year's jury is actress John Lahr, former principal theatre critic of The New Yorker and last year's winner for Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh; Kika Markham, who was shortlisted for last year's award for Our Time of Day: My Life with Corin Redgrave; and Benedict Nightingale, journalist and former theatre critic for The Times.

Previous recipients of the prize include Dominic Dromgoole, Sir Michael Holroyd, Simon Callow, Stephen Sondheim, Rupert Everett and Michael Blakemore.

The annual Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography will be awarded in a ceremony on March 2 at the Garrick Club. The winner receives a £2,000 cash prize.