Dame Maggie Smith, Andrew Scott, Tom Hiddleston and Sheridan Smith are among the nominees at the Evening Standard’s Theatre Awards.
Productions including Downstate, Betrayal, Come From Away and Fiddler On The Roof will also be vying for top prizes at the annual ceremony, now in its 65th year.
Dame Maggie is nominated for the Natasha Richardson Award for best actress for her performance as Goebbels’ secretary in A German Life, competing against Hayley Atwell for Rosmersholm, Cecilia Noble for Downstate, Juliet Stevenson for The Doctor and Anjana Vasan for A Doll’s House.
Fleabag star Scott will go up against previous best actor winner Hiddleston, who won for Coriolanus in 2014.
Hiddleston has been shortlisted again in the best actor category for his role in Betrayal, while Scott has received a nod for his performance in the gender-switched version of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.
The pair are joined in the category by Downstate’s K. Todd Freeman and Francis Guinan, and Death Of A Salesman star Wendell Pierce.
Having made her musical theatre debut in Sweet Charity, Anne-Marie Duff is up for best musical performance against musical stalwart Sheridan Smith for Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Fiddler On The Roof actor Andy Nyman completes the nominations in the musical category.
Three female writers have been included on the shortlist for best play – Caryl Churchill for Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp, Debbie Tucker Green for Ear For Ear and Lynn Nottage for Sweat.
Downstate, by Bruce Norris, is the fourth contender in the category.
Come From Away, Evita, Fiddler On The Roof and Sweet Charity have been nominated for the best musical prize.
There are also nods for Death Of A Salesman’s Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell in the best director category, against Robert Icke for The Doctor and Jamie Lloyd for Betrayal.
Honouring the stage stars of tomorrow, the emerging talent award shortlist is comprised of Shiloh Coke for Chiaroscuro, Laurie Kynaston for The Son, Grace Molony for The Watsons and Bobby Stallwood for Faith, Hope and Charity.
Evening Standard editor George Osborne said: “The London theatre scene continues to thrive and the Evening Standard Theatre Awards recognises and celebrates the talent from the rising stars of tomorrow to best directors and actresses.
“There have been so many incredible theatre performances this year and we look forward to the award ceremony to unveil the outstanding achievements.”
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards take place on Sunday November 24 at the London Coliseum and will be hosted by the newspaper’s proprietor Evgeny Lebedev and co-hosted by Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour, Damian Lewis, Helen McCrory and Cush Jumbo.
