David Bowie has received a posthumous South Bank Sky Arts Awards nomination for his final album, Blackstar.
The late musician is among a host of stars from across the world of theatre, television, music and dance up for a prize, including grime artist Skepta and Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Fleabag will face off against Sky Atlantic’s Camping and People Just Do Nothing on BBC Three in the comedy category, while Bowie’s Blackstar and Skepta’s album Konnichiwa will reignite their Mercury Prize rivalry alongside The 1975′s I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It for the pop music award.
Dramatist and screenwriter Jack Thorne receives nods in two different categories – in TV drama for Channel 4′s National Treasure and in theatre for his stage adaptation of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, which made theatre history after winning a record-breaking nine Olivier Awards earlier this year.
The production will compete with Donmar Warehouse’s all-female The Shakespeare Trilogy and The Young Vic’s Yerma, which stars Billie Piper, while National Treasure is up against Netflix’s The Crown, and the BBC’s Happy Valley.
Other nominees include Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake – an unflinching examination of life in the UK benefits system – in the film category, and the English National Ballet’s touring production of Akram Khan’s Giselle in the dance category.
Now celebrating its 21st anniversary, the South Bank Sky Arts Awards recognise the best of British culture and achievement, with this year’s ceremony to be held on Sunday July 9 and hosted by Lord Melvyn Bragg.
