Best Actor in a Play + in a Musical

Maybe a bit of a cheat, but I couldn’t pick between the two stars of one of the best new plays of recent years and the most genuinely lovely depiction of teenage romance you could ever hope to see. I’ve seen them three times and have a sneaky trip booked to the last performance at the Bush too.

Beautifully affecting, Weaver has been an actor I’ve had my eye on for a time and so it was pleasing to see him deliver the goods in a major production, opposite Harry Hadden-Paton in Jamie Lloyd’s The Pride.

Brian Cox, The Weir

Hugo Koolschijn, Scenes from a Marriage (Toneelgroep Amsterdam)

Benedict Wong, Chimerica

Richard Clothier, 50 Words; Harry Hadden-Paton, The Pride; Mark Quartley, Armstrong's War; Ben Whishaw, Mojo

As Scottsboro boy-in-chief Haywood Patterson, Scatliffe personified beautifully the horrendous struggle of the young men who found themselves at the mercy of the justice system in the Deep South. The burden was strong given the under-writing of his compatriots but he delivered intense emotion and fervent conviction that the right thing would eventually happen, in what has to be a career-defining role.

The brooding intensity of Bennett’s Guy fitted the aching romance of Once like a glove, elevating the score from any potential moments of lachrymosity into something subtly beautiful and stirring in its simplicity. 

David Birrell, Sweeney Todd

Nick Hendrix, The Light Princess

Matt Smith, American Psycho

Michael Xavier, The Sound of Music

Gavin Creel, The Book of Mormon; Fra Fee, Candide; Douglas Hodge, Charlie andthe Chocolate Factory; David Hunter, The Hired Man