THE BIGGEST awards ceremony of the UK theatrical calendar took place last night at the Royal Albert Hall in the form of the prestigious Olivier Awards.
While hip-hop musical Hamilton swept the board, picking up seven gongs from its 13 nominations, it was also a good night for The Ferryman, which picked up three awards.
The drama which is set in rural Derry in 1981 against the backdrop of the Troubles, won the best play and best director for Sam Mendes, while Laura Donnelly was named best actress.
(Picture: Getty Images)Jez Butterworth wrote The Ferryman based on the experiences of his partner Laura Donnelly’s family in Northern Ireland.
Picking up the award, the man behind it all said: “It’s her story. I stayed in with a gin and tonic and she had to go out to work. I knew how much that cost her and how much that will mean.”
Donnelly, however, received recognition in her own right for her portrayal of widow Caitlin in the original production.
She told her peers at the Royal Albert Hall that receiving the award was something she “dreamt of from childhood”.
She also said that because of the subject matter, she felt a “weight of responsibility I hadn’t in any other job to do it justice because it was so close to home.”
We're live with Best Actress Laura Donnelly who just won! https://t.co/EZMAdxcmFf
— Olivier Awards (@OlivierAwards) April 8, 2018
The Ferryman will make its Broadway debut later this year.
Elsewhere on the night, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston took the best actor prize for his portrayal of Howard Beale in the National Theatre production of Network.
