The Young Vic emerged as the biggest winner at the 2015 Olivier awards shortlist announcement with 11 nominations across four productions.
The theatre’s productions of A Streetcar Named Desire, A View from the Bridge, The Scottsboro Boys and Bull were all named as potential winners, making the Young Vic the most nominated venue.
It was the strength of West End transfers from the subsidised sector more generally that stood out as the nominations were announced in central London by the actors James McAvoy and Lesley Manville.
All four best new play nominations originated in publicly subsidised theatre: King Charles III from the Almeida; The Nether from the Royal Court; Taken at Midnight from Chichester Festival theatre; and Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies from the RSC.
In purely numerical terms the most nominated production was Memphis: The Musical with nine, closely followed by Beautiful: The Carole King Musical with eight.
This year’s best actress category will be contested by Gillian Anderson for A Streetcar Named Desire; Kristin Scott Thomas for Electra; Imelda Staunton for Good People; and Penelope Wilton for Taken at Midnight.
The best actor nominees are James McAvoy for The Ruling Class; Tim Pigott-Smith for King Charles III; Richard Armitage for The Crucible and Mark Strong for A View from the Bridge.
Nominees for the best musical revival are City of Angels, Miss Saigon, Porgy and Bess and Cats, for which Nicole Scherzinger gets a nomination for what was her first major theatrical role.
The only award voted for by the public is the This Morning Audience award with four shows in contention: Billy Elliot, Matilda the Musical, Jersey Boys and Wicked.
The Oliviers, established in 1976, aim to compete with the Tony awards in New York in terms of starriness and entertainment and the winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal Opera House on 12 April with ITV showing highlights late on Sunday evening.
