THE IAN CHARLESON AWARDS

1991 IAN HUGHES Lyric, Hammersmith TORQUATO TASSO	1992 TOM HOLLANDER Lyric, Hammersmith WAY OF THE WORLD	1993 EMMA FIELDING Almeida SCHOOL FOR WIVES	1994 TOBY STEPHENS Royal Shakespeare Company CORIOLANUS
1995 LUCY WHYBROW Royal Shakespeare Company ROMEO AND JULIET	1996 ALEXANDRA GILBREATH English Touring Theatre HEDDA GABLER	1997 MARK BAZELEY English Touring Theatre THE SEAGULL	1997 DOMINIC WEST Peter Hall Company THE SEAGULL
1998 CLAUDIE BLAKLEY West Yorkshire Playhouse THE SEAGULL	1999 RUPERT PENRYS-JONES Royal Shakespeare Company DON CARLOS	2000 DAVID OYELOWO Royal Shakespeare Company HENRY VI	2001 CLAIRE PRICE Royal National Theatre THE RELAPSE
2002 REBECCA HALL Peter Hall Company MRS WARREN'S PROFESSION	2003 LISA DILLON Albery Theatre THE MASTER BUILDER	2004 NONSO ANOZIE Cheek by Jowl OTHELLO	2005 MARIAH GALE Regent's Park TWELFTH NIGHT

Trevor Nunn, director of the National Theatre . . .opened the winners' lunch by warning that traditional verse-speaking was facing a crisis. "As schools drop Shakespeare from the classroom and can no longer afford to take children to the theatre, we may enter the next millennium with classical theatre regarded as an endangered species," he warned.
Nunn revealed he will be doing his bit to stem this decline. "Now seems to be a good moment to declare that Sir Peter Hall, Adrian Noble, director John Barton and myself, prompted by David Suchet, are pledged to organise an annual verse and text workshop open to all-comers. If we don't do something, then the classical tradition that inspired us all will dwindle and die."
This plan was welcomed loudly by guests such as Janet Suzman, Michael Gambon, Felicity Kendal, Zoe Wanamaker, Ian McKellen and special guest Paul Scofield, who may now find themselves being asked to coach budding Oliviers on the South Bank.

THE 12th Ian Charleson Awards ceremony was one of the most star-studded and joyous yet staged. Dames Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins, Henry Goodman, Sir Peter Hall, Ian McDiarmid, Felicity Kendal, Cherie Lunghi and Denis Quilley were just a few of the theatrical doyens who gathered for the occasion.

Sponsored by The Sunday Times and the National Theatre, the awards recognise performances by actors under 30 in a classical play. They also honour an actor who died tragically young, and who, as the NT's director, Trevor Nunn, put it, "found it impossible to take himself too seriously, but cared passionately about his art".

The ceremony was special this year because Charleson's mother, Jean, and brother, Ken, attended for the first time. "For the cause of youth, in Ian's name we gather," Nunn declared at the start. John Peter, The Sunday Times theatre critic, recalled that Charleson's Hamlet - the role he was playing at the time of his death - was the first time he had seen a standing ovation for a classical play. He realised "I was in the presence of someone quite, quite exceptional".

Fifteen young actors won commendations in the awards. The judges, Penelope Wilton, Howard Davies and John Peter, awarded the £5,000 first prize to Claire Price for her Berinthia in The Relapse (NT), for an "infectiously sexy and funny" performance. In second place was Zoe Waites, "a very witty and lovely" Viola in Twelfth Night (RSC). The third prize went to James D'Arcy, who, as Gaveston in Edward II (Crucible, Sheffield), "overcame the difficulty of making him too louche or wicked, to create a character that gave the play a balance". A sense of harmony, too, was the overwhelming feeling at the end of the celebration.

First prize to Rebecca Hall as Vivie, her professional stage debut, in Sir Peter Hall's production of Mrs. Warren's Profession. Second prize to Daniel Evans for English Touring Theatre's revival of Ibsen's Ghosts and Ariel in Michael Grandage's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest at the Sheffield Crucible. Third prize to Iain Robertson for his Trinculo in the same production of The Tempest.

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ACTOR	THEATRE	PLAY
Nonso Anonzie	RSC Academy	King Lear
Justin Avoth	Manchester Royal Exchange	A Midsummer Night's Dream
Lucy Black	Bristol Tobacco Factory	Twelfth Night
Nancy Carroll	Almeida	King Lear
Daniel Evans	Sheffield Crucible/ English Touring Theatre	The Tempest/ Ghosts
Naomi Frederick	Nuffield Theatre, Southampton	Three Sisters
Dan Fredenburgh	Lyric Hammersmith / RSC	The Prince of Homburg
Rebecca Hall	Peter Hall Company	Mrs. Warren's Profession
Ryan Kiggell	RSC Academy	King Lear
Kanawa Kirimi	RSC	Pericles
Claire Price	Sheffield Crucible	The Tempest
Iain Robertson	Sheffield Crucible	The Tempest
Sam Troughton	National Theatre	Tartuffe

First prize to Lisa Dillon as Hilde Wangel in Anthony Page's production of Ibsen's The Master Builder, for which she also won the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Second prize to Louisa Clein as Hilde Wangel in Trevor Nunn's production of Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea. Third prize to Eve Myles for the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Titus Andronicus and The Taming of the Shrew.

ACTOR	THEATRE	PLAY
Jamie Beamish	Regent's Park Open Air Theatre	Two Gentlemen of Verona
Kellie Bright	Manchester Royal Exchange	The Seagull
Nancy Carroll	Sheffield Crucible	A Midsummer Night's Dream
Louisa Clein	Almeida	The Lady from The Sea
Lisa Dillon	Albery Theatre	The Master Builder
Felicite du Jeu	National Theatre	Henry V
Rebecca Hall	Peter Hall Company	As You Like It
Rory Kinnear	RSC	The Taming of the Shrew
Emma Lowndes	Manchester Royal Exchange	The Seagull
Tobias Menzies	Playhouse Theatre	Three Sisters
Joseph Millsom	Peter Hall Company	As You Like It
Eve Myles	RSC	Titus Andronicus, The Taming of the Shrew
Paul Ready	Bristol Old Vic	The Comedy of Errors
Steven Robertson	Manchester Royal Exchange	The Seagull

Only 4 names have been found from the 2004 Awards.

First place to Nonso Anozie as Othello for Cheek by Jowl. Second place to Naomi Frederick as Isabella in Measure for Measure for Theatre de Complicite. Third place to Ben Wishaw as Hamlet for Old Vic Company. A special commendation to David Nicolle as Ion for Mercury Theatre Company

Second prize to Sinead Matthews for Hedvig in Wild Duck and Polly in You Never Can Tell. Third prize to Benedick Cumberbatch as Tesman in Hedda Gabler (Almeida)

ACTOR	THEATRE	PLAY(Role)
Peter Bramhill	RSC	Thomas More (Lifter, Lady Vanity)
Benedick Cumberbatch	Almeida	Hedda Gabler (Tesman)
Michelle Dockery	National	Pillars of the Community (Dina Dorf)
Mariah Gale	Regent's Park Southwark Playhouse Oxford Stage Company at Arcola	Twelfth Night (Viola) Tis Pity She's a Whore (Annabella) The Last Waltz season
Edward Hogg	Gate	Woyzeck (Woyzeck)
Rory Kinnear	Donmar	Mary Stuart (Mortimer)
James Loye	Regent's Park Regent's Park	Cymbeline(Cloten) Twelfth Night (Andrew Aguecheek)
Lyndsey Marshal	Almeida	The Hypochondriac (Toinette)
Sinead Matthews	Donmar Peter Hall Company	Wild Duck (Hedvig) You Never Can Tell (Polly)
Caitlin Mottram	RSC	A Midsummer Night's Dream (Helena)
Nicholas Shaw	Oxford Stage Company	Easter (Benjamin)

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