Royal Court Wins Three Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Last night, 20 November 2011, at a ceremony at the Savoy Hotel for the 57th Annual Evening Standard Theatre Awards, the Royal Court won in three categories at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards: The Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer, The Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright, as well as the award for Best Play, three of the nine awards for which it was nominated.

Kyle Soller received The Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performance in The Faith Machine, which played at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs in autumn, and The Glass Menagerie and Government Inspector, both at The Young Vic.

Penelope Skinner, who had previously attended Royal Court writing programmes, won The Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright for her new play The Village Bike which enjoyed a twice extended run at The Jerwood Theatre Upstairs last summer. The Village Bike, which also won the 2011 George Devine Award, is Skinner’s first play produced by the Royal Court.

Richard Bean, who has seen several of his previous works staged by the Royal Court, was awarded Best Play for the four star production of his new play on climate change, The Heretic, which premiered at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs earlier this year, and for his play One Man, Two Guvnors, originally at the National Theatre and currently showing at the Adelphi Theatre.