LONDON - Danny Boyle and Judi Dench were among the winners at the 58th London Evening Standard Theatre Awards here late Sunday evening.
Oscar-winning director Boyle and his creative team were honored with the Beyond Theatre award for their work on the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. British cycling star Victoria Pendleton presented the award. Boyle served as the artistic director for the ceremony, which featured many nods to British culture and theater.
At the awards ceremony at the Savoy Hotel in central London, Dench received the Moscow Art Theatre's Golden Seagull award for her contribution to world theater. In the best actress category, Oscar winner Cate Blanchett was among the nominees, but lost out to Hattie Morahan who won for her role as a housewife in A Doll's House.
The best musical award went to Sweeney Todd, the latest stage version of the play that Tim Burton had brought to the big screen with Johnny Depp in 2007 under the title Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Playwright Nick Payne was honored in the best play race for his Constellations, becoming the youngest-ever winner in the category.
Here is a complete list of winners of the Evening Standard Theatre Awards:
Best play - Constellations by Nick Payne
Ned Sherrin award for best musical - Sweeney Todd
Best director - Nicholas Hytner for Timon of Athens
Best actor - Simon Russell Beale for Collaborators
Natasha Richardson award for best actress - Hattie Morahan for A Doll's House
Beyond theatre - Danny Boyle and his team for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics
Moscow Art Theatre's Golden Seagull - Judi Dench
Burberry award for emerging director - Simon Godwin
Best design - Soutra Gilmour for Inadmissible Evidence and Antigone
Charles Wintour award for most promising playwright - Lolita Chakrabarti for Red Velvet
Milton Shulman award for outstanding newcomer - Matthew Tennyson for Making Noise Quietly
Lebedev special award - Nicholas Hytner for his dynamic directorship of the National Theatre
Editor's award - David Hare for his contribution to theater