When the nominees for the Olivier Awards — Britain’s equivalent to the Tonys — were announced last month, a revival of the 1964 musical “Fiddler on the Roof” dominated, with 13 nominations. At the awards ceremony on Sunday night, though, the list of winners was more balanced: “Fiddler” took home three trophies; as did “Giant,” which starred John Lithgow as Roald Dahl; and a folk music adaptation of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
Matt Wolf and Houman Barekat, The New York Times’s London theater critics, discussed the winners and the productions that missed out with Eleanor Stanford, a Times contributor.
New productions like “Giant” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” were among the big winners on Sunday night. What does that say about the state of British theater?
BAREKAT It’s heartening, especially when you consider that neither of these plays sound particularly promising on paper: Benjamin Button reimagined as an English fisherman, set to Cornish folk music; Roald Dahl squabbling with his publisher about blowback from an inflammatory article. And yet both were staged successfully. It tells us that, when the industry is prepared to take risks, theatergoers can be receptive. And the same goes for “The Years” — I wasn’t quite as enthused by it as some other critics, but turning a sociological memoir into watchable theater is no mean feat. Eline Arbo imbued it with a sense of movement and vitality, so I can understand why she won best director.
WOLF Both shows were expected to win their key categories — best new musical for “Benjamin Button” and best new play for “Giant” — and did. Both are decidedly British, as well as strikingly original, which is interesting given the Oliviers’ history of often crowning American work, especially when it comes to best new musical: “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen” both won that category.
Remarkably, this year Romola Garai was nominated twice for best supporting actress, for her performances in “The Years” and “Giant.” She won for “The Years.” What makes Garai stand out onstage?
WOLF Garai has an astonishing emotional transparency — and resilience. In “The Years,”, her character attempts to self-administer an abortion, a scene so intense that it frequently caused audience members to faint. I’m not sure every performer would have had the courage for such a performance, but Garai seems to run toward intensity, which is also clear from her role in “Giant” as a feisty Jewish American publisher, who flies to England to do battle with Dahl. The part is being taken in the play’s coming West End transfer by Aya Cash, and Garai has been replaced in “The Years” by Tuppence Middleton.
BAREKAT Her performance in “Giant” is incredibly controlled: a blend of poise and simmering energy. The character shifts subtly between modes as she seeks to build rapport with Dahl and coax him into publicly renouncing antisemitism. It’s a delicate cat-and-mouse game, and her pent up exasperation in the face of Dahl’s consistent blitheness builds dramatic tension.
Many of the most-nominated productions — “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Oliver!,” “Starlight Express” and “Hello, Dolly!” — were old stage warhorses. What do you think that says about the Oliviers as an institution?
BAREKAT I think that is about the innate conservatism of musical theater audiences. They tend to gravitate toward the comfort of the familiar, so it’s really hard for new musicals to break through, and the nominations just reflect that commercial reality. There is bandwidth for maybe one wild card per year — last year it was “Operation Mincemeat,” this year it’s “Benjamin Button” — but that’s about it. In truth, it was relatively slim pickings in the best new musical category. “Why Am I So Single?” closed early, and “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” was modest fare — yet both were nominated. “Benjamin Button” won almost by default.
WOLF But you also have to credit the Oliviers for recognizing original work that isn’t necessarily easily digested: “The Years” and “Giant” both ask a lot of audiences.
“Giant” — which won best new play and best actor for John Lithgow — presented Roald Dahl as a rounded character. Did this nuance help the production?
WOLF Mark Rosenblatt’s play — his first as a writer following a well-established career as a director — considers opposing points of view at a time when people can seem locked into one or another fixed stance. But there’s no denying that the director-star team of Nicholas Hytner and Lithgow, two theater veterans, and longtime friends, helped give Rosenblatt’s script the best airing possible.
BAREKAT I think the key to the success of “Giant” is the character of Tom Maschler, Dahl’s British publisher, played with understated aplomb by Elliot Levey, who deservedly won best actor in a supporting role. Maschler is Jewish but, having passed through the same English boarding school system as Dahl, is inclined to downplay Dahl’s antisemitism. Maschler was born in Germany, and like many assimilated migrants, his loyalties and sense of identity are shaped by so much more than ethnicity. And while this play could easily have been off-puttingly essayistic, the Maschler character gives it complexity and nuance.
Lithgow has said that he wants to take “Giant” to Broadway. What productions among the winners could get a New York transfer?
WOLF That’s a tricky one, both because spiraling production costs in New York make Broadway more of a crap shoot than ever, and because some London hits have recently received a sniffy reception stateside. I would imagine “Benjamin Button” has its eye on New York, where another musical theater adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby,” has settled into a comfortable Broadway run — although those two shows could not be more different.
I’d be surprised if the environment-themed “Kyoto,” which was nominated for best play, doesn’t head to New York: Its lead character is an American lobbyist, and its co-directors, Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, certainly know their way around Broadway. The first show among this year’s winners that is confirmed for Broadway is Robert Icke’s blistering take on “Oedipus,” which has announced a fall opening at Studio 54.
BAREKAT That transfer makes sense: The political drama in this reimagining of “Oedipus” channels an Obama-era vibe, both in the can-do optimism of Mark Strong’s character and the aesthetic of the campaign posters. It’s an interesting time to watch a play in which a liberal politician catastrophically falls from grace.
“Benjamin Button” might seem a tempting choice, because U.S. audiences will obviously be familiar with the story, but I think the production’s somewhat melancholic ambience might not play well on Broadway. And Cornish folk music isn’t for everyone.
A revival of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which ran at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theater last year, was nominated for 13 awards — matching an Oliviers record set by “Hamilton” — and took home three trophies on Sunday night. How do you think this “Fiddler” measured up?
WOLF “Fiddler” is staged relatively frequently in London, but I’ve never seen one as free of schmaltz as this latest version from the director Jordan Fein, which next month moves to the Barbican Center, followed by a tour of Britain. The musical’s themes of a community forced into dislocation and exile hit newly resonant notes, and Adam Dannheisser’s Tevye presided with brooding power — without a trace of audience-pandering shtick — over a family fracturing in front of our eyes.
On Sunday night, Imelda Staunton won her fifth Olivier for her lead role in “Hello, Dolly!.” Is it fair to say she is one of the greats of the British stage, as well as screen?
WOLF With the passing of British acting titans like Glenda Jackson and Maggie Smith, Staunton is poised to inherit their mantle — with the added bonus that Staunton headlines musicals, as well. I’d also make a case for Lesley Manville, who is the same age as Staunton, 69, and whose second Olivier, this time for “Oedipus,” has only confirmed her considerable standing.
Were there any surprises among the winners? And if so, who do you think should have won?
WOLF I was surprised, in a good way, to see the Norwegian director Eline Arbo win for “The Years.” Her competition was very strong, but among the other nominees, Nicholas Hytner and Robert Icke are familiar English faces. And a lot of the evening’s recipients had won before — so it’s nice to add a continental talent, and a woman, to the mix.
I’d have liked a bit more attention for James Macdonald’s superb revival of “Waiting for Godot,” and for “Oliver!,” whose funny and heartfelt Fagin, played by Simon Lipkin, was the best I’ve ever seen.
BAREKAT I agree that Macdonald’s “Waiting for Godot” deserved greater recognition. I was a little surprised by Romola Garai winning best actress in a supporting role for “The Years.” It’s an ensemble play, in which several performers take turns to play the main character, Annie — so they’re not exactly “supporting” roles. Sharon D. Clarke’s turn as the prickly, imperious Lady Bracknell in “The Importance of Being Earnest” would have been a more deserving winner for me.
London theaters have hosted many star vehicles recently, which justify high-price tickets, but these productions haven’t tended to fare too well when it comes to awards. Is that because those buzzy productions are creatively disappointing?
WOLF It’s interesting that the past season saw the West End debuts of the TV star Lily Collins, in the play “Barcelona,” and the Oscar winners Brie Larson, in “Elektra,” and Rami Malek, in “Oedipus” — none of whom were recognized at the Oliviers. That could be due — in the case of “Elektra,” especially — to so-so reviews, but also to an awards landscape that favors theater regulars. That said, visiting film stars can leave a mark, as seen by Adrien Brody’s nomination for “The Fear of 13,” his London stage debut.
BAREKAT However commercially oriented the Oliviers undoubtedly are, at a certain point an embarrassment factor kicks in. Two starry Shakespeare productions directed by Jamie Lloyd this year — the Tom Holland “Romeo and Juliet” and Sigourney Weaver’s “Tempest” — were so underwhelming, it just wouldn’t have been a good look to nominate them.
Which current productions do you expect to be represented at next year’s Oliviers?
WOLF Lloyd’s recent “Much Ado About Nothing” missed the eligibility cutoff for this year by a matter of days, but looks very likely to figure next year, especially in the acting categories for its co-stars Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell. And hopes are high for Ewan McGregor’s imminent return to the London stage in “My Master Builder.”
BAREKAT If the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Hamlet” transfers to London, I could see Luke Thallon getting a nomination for his performance in the title role, which was rather special. Jonathan Bailey in “Richard II” was also very impressive. But it’s early days.