Patsy Ferran has scored the best actress gong at Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards for her last-minute replacement role in A Streetcar Named Desire.
The actress stepped into the part of Blanche DuBois alongside Paul Mescal’s Stanley Kowalski days before the show launched at the Almeida Theatre due to the previous actress Lydia Wilson sustaining an injury.
Ferran saw off strong competition in the category including Killing Eve star Jodie Comer who has previously picked up the Olivier and WhatsOnStage award for her role as Tessa in Prima Facie, a one-person production by Suzie Miller.
The best actor award went to Giles Terera who received the prize for two of his roles which were staged at the National Theatre – the title role in Othello and as Guy in Blues For An Alabama Sky.
Lynette Linton also took home the best director for the latter production which is a revival of the play by Pearl Cleage which explores the last days of the Harlem Renaissance.
The Trewin Award for best Shakespearean performance went to The Archers star Arthur Hughes for his turn as the eponymous hero in Richard III.
His performance marked the first time the Royal Shakespeare Company has cast a disabled actor to play the character in its history.
The Crown’s screenwriter Peter Morgan was also recognised in the best new play category for his production titled Patriots, which is set in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union and follows “billionaire businessman Boris Berezovsky from the president’s inner circle to public enemy number one”.
Meanwhile, best musical went to Oklahoma! for its 2022 run at the Young Vic, but it has recently transferred to Wyndham’s Theatre in London.
Up-and-coming theatre stars also faired well with Lizzie Annis receiving the Jack Tinker Award for most promising newcomer in The Glass Menagerie where she starred opposite Amy Adams.
Tyrell Williams also won the prize for most promising playwright for his debut Red Pitch which explores football, friendship and gentrification.
Tom Pye was named best designer for his work on My Neighbour Totoro and the Empty Space Peter Brook Award went to the New Diorama.
The ceremony comes after the 2023 Olivier Theatre Awards which saw stars including Mescal, Comer, Katie Brayben and Arthur Darvill take home top gongs.
The Critics’ Circle Theatre awards were founded in 1989 and are run by the drama section of The Critics’ Circle.
The prizes were announced during a ceremony held at Soho Place in London on Monday.