2023 Best Supporting Performance in a Play

Winners

Will Close, Dear England
Gina McKee, Dear England
I couldn’t have told you what Harry Kane sounded like before seeing Dear England but it mattered not a jot, the brilliance of James Graham’s writing and Will Close’s affectionate performance winning everyone around by the end. And Gina McKee’s boldly intelligent work as psychologist Pippa really laid the groundwork for this examination of the nation’s psyche.

Honourable mentions

Michele Austin, The Effect
Sabrina Bartlett, She Stoops to Conquer
All four performances in The Effect were magnificent but Austin’s really did make a powerful case for the nature of this revival. And in all of the festive brightness at the Orange Tree, Bartlett was a constant delight in portraying the independence of her Constance.

Other nominees

Paul Chahidi, Phaedra
Elliot Cowan, A Little Life
Ben Daniels, Medea
Rosalind Eleazar, The House of Bernarda Alba
Paul Hilton, Ghosts
Sylvestra Le Touzel, Pygmalion
Noof Ousellam, Macbeth
Zubin Varla, A Little Life

After some reflection and looking at how other theatre awards have addressed the issue of gendered awards, I’ve come up with my own solution. I’ve merged categories but doubled the number of awards, so that I’m still recognising the same number of performances rather than halving them, as so many others seem to have done. Each to their own, but I’d always want to celebrate more than less of the performances I’ve loved throughout the year.