Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2016: Stars speak of theatre's power to change lives

Some of theatre's biggest stars called for more compassion from the government and an end to arts funding cuts
“Hope”: Mark Rylance with Good Chance Theatre’s Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy
Dave Benett
Alistair Foster|Robert de14 November 2016

The stars of the London stage spoke of the importance of the theatre and how it can change lives “in these dark times” at last night's Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

Mark Rylance, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Ralph Fiennes and Sir Patrick Stewart were among those who called on the Government to show compassion during the refugee crisis, more unity in the wake of the Brexit vote and to stop cutting arts funds.

Presenting the Editor’s Award to the Good Chance Theatre for its work setting up a performance stage at the Calais Jungle camp, Rylance praised founders Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy for being a “beacon of hope” and “filling a gap left by the Government and offering basic shelter and food”.

He added: “In these dark times when hate and fear of each other seems to be becoming government policy, the Good Chance Theatre — in reaching out to the most vulnerable and in celebrating the dignity of every human being regardless of race, age or gender — represents the very best of us.”

Referring to the election of Donald Trump as US president, Murphy said: “This week showed what happens when compassion fails and fear is allowed to fester and to grow.”

Lord Lloyd-Webber — a Conservative peer — collected the Radio 2 audience award for best musical for Jesus Christ Superstar at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and pointed out that it had taken his show 45 years to win its first major award. He finished his acceptance speech by asking the Government: “Can I passionately beg you to believe you must stop cutting the arts in schools.”

Collecting the Lebedev Award for his plays at the Garrick Theatre, Sir Kenneth said: “At a point in history where man’s inhumanity to man seems as desperate as it has ever been, I believe there has never been a greater need for art in general, and in our particular case, there’s never been a greater need to have great stories in great theatres for large audiences to entertain, to divert and also to know that we and they are not alone. It matters.”

He also singled out the Standard for its support of the community, saying: “I’ve always understood London theatre would be a much poorer place without the enthusiastic, necessarily critical and engaged voice of this paper.”

Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2016 Winners & Ceremony- In pictures

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Recalling the first show he staged 33 years ago, he added: “By the Saturday night of the first week there were 12 people in the 100-seat auditorium, six of them were my family and two of them were asleep for the whole show.

“But on the Monday of the second week, the Evening Standard sent a reviewer — possibly out of pity but beggars can’t be choosers.

“The review was terrific, we sold out for the rest of the week and the RSC came to see it. As a result of that review, they gave me a job, thank you very much. The box office income for the second week meant I only lost half of my entire life savings, not all of them.”

Fiennes, who won the best actor prize for his roles in The Master Builder at the Old Vic and Richard III at the Almeida, told the Standard: “I look around this room and I see a lot of faces of people who inspire me.

“I totally support Ken’s sentiment about the importance of theatre — to entertain, to provoke, to make us think. The best of it does all of those things in an evening.

“The audiences prove that people want to be taken out of their lives and made to laugh, made to cry and if we can do that a bit it’s a good thing.”

Sir Patrick used his platform to attack Theresa May’s backing of grammar schools.

He said: “I am a secondary modern school product and let my story be an example to you Prime Minister ... your elitist two-tier secondary school policies won’t keep all underprivileged and therefore undeserving working-class scum at the bottom of the heap.

“Some of us will have the impertinence to have ambition. Working-class scum will have ambition.”

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