The 2010 Evening Standard Theatre Awards will be presented at the Savoy on November 28, 2010.  The much-anticipated list of nominees has been announced and features a few interesting head-to-heads including the Best Actor Award with Sherlock co-stars Benedict Cumberbatch (for After The Dance) and Martin Freeman (for Clybourne Park) both nominated. Elsewhere, screen to stage sirens Gemma Arterton (for The Little Dog Laughed) and Keira Knightley (for The Misanthrope) have both been nominated for Best Actress.

Nominees Hope to Make The Shortlist

The Evening Standard Theatre Awards is famous for its long list of categories and nominees. These nominees are whittled down to a short list on 21 November, with a winner being crowned at a glitzy ceremony on 28 November.

The awards are judged by a panel of theatre critics working with the newspaper’s Deputy Editor, Sarah Sands, and chairman, Evgeny Lebedev. They are seen as a strong guide to the rest of the awards season which culminates in the Lawrence Olivier Awards in the Spring of 2011.

The Nominees in Full!

BEST ACTOR

• Roger Allam, Henry IV Parts One and Two (Shakespeare's Globe)
• Bertie Carvel, Rope (Almeida)
• Benedict Cumberbatch, After the Dance (National's Lyttelton)
• Martin Freeman, Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
• Alex Jennings, The Habit of Art (National's Lyttelton)
• Rory Kinnear, Measure for Measure (Almeida)/ Hamlet (National's Olivier)
• Adrian Lester, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Novello)
• Alfred Molina, Red (Donmar Warehouse)
• Jonathan Pryce, The Caretaker (Trafalgar Studios)
• Simon Russell Beale, London Assurance (National's Olivier)/ Deathtrap (Noël Coward)
• Adrian Scarborough, After the Dance (National's Lyttelton)
• David Suchet, All My Sons (Apollo)

THE Natasha Richardson AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS

• Gemma Arterton, The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick)
• Nancy Carroll, After the Dance (National's Lyttelton)
• Judi Dench, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Rose, Kingston)
• Tamsin Greig, The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick)
• Jenny Jules, Ruined (Almeida)
• Keira Knightley, The Misanthrope (Comedy Theatre)
• Amanda Lawrence, Jiggery Pokery (BAC)/ Henry VIII (Shakespeare's Globe)
• Rosaleen Linehan, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)
• Helen McCrory, The Late Middle Classes (Donmar Warehouse)
• Lesley Manville, Six Degrees of Separation (Old Vic)
• Anna Maxwell Martin, Measure for Measure (Almeida)
• Elena Roger, Passion (Donmar Warehouse)
• Fiona Shaw, London Assurance (National's Olivier)
• Sheridan Smith, Legally Blonde (Savoy)
• SopHie Thompson, Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
• Zoë Wanamaker, All My Sons (Apollo)

BEST PLAY

• Cock, Mike Bartlett (Royal Court)
• The Big Fellah, Richard Bean (Lyric Hammersmith)
• The Habit of Art, Alan Bennett (National's Lyttelton)
• Beautiful Burnout, Bryony Lavery (York Hall)
• Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris (Royal Court)
• Ruined, Lynn Nottage (Almeida)
• Posh, Laura Wade (Royal Court)
• Sucker Punch, Roy Williams (Royal Court)

THE Ned Sherrin AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL

• Hair, Gielgud Theatre
• The Human Comedy, A Young Vic/The Opera Group production co-produced with Watford Palace Theatre
• Legally Blonde, Savoy Theatre
• Les Misérables (2010), Cameron Mackintosh production at Barbican Theatre
• Passion, Donmar Warehouse
• Sweet Charity, Menier Chocolate Factory; transferred to Theatre Royal Haymarket

BEST DIRECTOR

• Dominic Cooke, Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
• Howard Davies, The White Guard (National's Lyttelton)/ All My Sons (Apollo)
• Rupert Goold, Romeo and Juliet (RSC Stratford)/Earthquakes in London (National's Cottesloe)
• Michael Grandage, Red (Donmar Warehouse)/ Danton's Death (National's Olivier)
• Jeremy Herrin, Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
• Joe Hill-Gibbins, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)
• Nicholas Hytner, The Habit of Art (National's Lyttelton/London Assurance (National's Olivier)/Hamlet (National's Olivier)
• James MacDonald, Cock (Royal Court)
• Roger Michell, Rope (Almeida)
• Laurie Sansom, Beyond the Horizon and Spring Storm (National's Cottesloe)
• Thea Sharrock, After the Dance (National's Lyttelton)
• Lyndsey Turner, Posh (Royal Court)

BEST DESIGN

• Lez Brotherston, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Vaudeville)/Measure for Measure (Almeida)/Women Beware Women (National's Olivier)/Design for Living (Old Vic)
• Miriam Buether, Sucker Punch (Royal Court)/Earthquakes in London (National's Cottesloe)
• Bunny Christie, The White Guard (National's Lyttelton)
• Rob Howell, Private Lives (Vaudeville)/Deathtrap (Noël Coward)
• Vicki Mortimer, The Cat in the Hat (National's Cottesloe; transferred to Young Vic)
• Christopher Oram, Passion (Donmar Warehouse)/Red (Donmar Warehouse)
• Mark Thompson, London Assurance (National's Olivier)

THE CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT

• James Graham, The Whisky Taster (Bush)/The Man (Finborough)
• DC Moore, The Empire (Royal Court)
• Nick Payne, If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet (Bush)/Wanderlust (Royal Court)
• Anya Reiss, Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
• Atiha Sen Gupta, What Fatima Did (Hampstead)
• Penelope Skinner, Eigengrau (Bush)

THE MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER

• You Me Bum Bum Train, created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd (LEB Building, E2)
• Melanie Chisholm, for her performance in Blood Brothers (Phoenix)
• Laura Dos Santos, for her performance in Educating Rita (Menier Chocolate Factory, transferred to Trafalgar Studios)
• Simon Godwin, for his direction of Wanderlust (Royal Court)
• Daniel Kaluuya, for his performance in Sucker Punch (Royal Court)
• Isabella Laughland, for her performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
• Henry Lloyd-Hughes, for his performances in Rope (Almeida) and Posh (Royal Court)
• James McArdle, for his performance in Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
• James Musgrave, for his performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
• Nikesh Patel, for his performance in Disconnect (Royal Court)
• Shannon Tarbet, for her performance in Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)