Ian Charleson awards

To commemorate and celebrate the life of the actor Ian Charleson, who died in 1990, The Sunday Times and the National Theatre collaborate annually to present awards for outstanding performances anywhere in the UK, by actors under the age of 30, in a classical role. This is defined as one in a play written before 1918. The 2009 awards will take place at a private lunch this month. The nominees are:

Max Bennett: Claudio in Measure for Measure (Theatre Royal, Plymouth/ Thelma Holt) and Frank in Mrs Warren’s Profession(Theatre Royal, Bath)

Natalie Dew: Celia in As You Like It (Curve, Leicester)

Hedydd Dylan: Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (Clwyd)

Mariah Gale: Celia in As You Like It (RSC, Courtyard, Stratford)

Rebecca Hall: Hermione in The Winter’s Tale (Bridge Project at the Old Vic)

Tracy Ifeachor: Rosalind in As You Like It (Curve)

Max Irons: Max Piccolomini in Wallenstein (Minerva, Chichester)

Tunji Kasim: Lucius/Romulus in Julius Caesar (RSC)

Vanessa Kirby: Regina in Ghosts (Octagon, Bolton)

Keira Knightley: Jennifer in The Misanthrope (Comedy)

Jack Laskey: Orlando in As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe)

Harry Lloyd: Oswald in Ghosts (Arcola)

John MacMillan: Malcolm in Macbeth (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and Rosencrantz in Hamlet (Donmar at Wyndham’s)

Ruth Negga: Aricia in Phèdre (National)

David Ononokpono: Orlando in As You Like It (Curve)

Henry Pettigrew: Marcellus/Second Gravedigger in Hamlet (Donmar at Wyndham’s)

Prasanna Puwanarajah: Messenger in Thyestes (Arcola)

George Rainsford: Bertram in All’s Well That Ends Well (National)

Sam Swainsbury: Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Salerio in The Merchant of Venice (Propeller)

Ellie Turner: Agnes in The School for Wives (Upstairs at the Gatehouse)