This year’s Olivier Awards, which recognize achievements in London theater, opera and dance, saw The Roald Dahl play “Giant” win three prizes including Best New Play. “Benjamin Button” also won three, as did a boisterous outdoor production of “Fiddler on the Roof” at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
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American actor John Lithgow won the Best Actor trophy at the London stage Olivier Awards on Sunday for exploring the dark side of children's writer Roald Dahl in “Giant.”
The star of Conclave and the future Professor Dumbledore in the new HBO Harry Potter remake added the Olivier to an awards shelf that already includes multiple Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe trophies.
Scroll down for the full list of winners.
In Mark Rosenblatt’s play, he depicts the author of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", which confronts Dahl’s antisemitic views.
“I think I'm going to faint,” said an emotional Lithgow, 79.
While accepting his award, he appeared to reference the current controversy over Donald Trump's second term as US president, assuring Britons that the transatlantic "special relationship is still firmly intact.”
“It’s not always easy to welcome an American into your midst, and at this particular moment, it’s probably a little more complicated than usual,” he told the audience at the Royal Albert Hall.
Giant was also named Best New Play, and Lithgow’s co-star, English actor Elliot Levey, took Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Elsewhere, the backwards-biographical story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” - the musical based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that also inspired David Fincher’s 2008 movie starring Brad Pitt - was named Best New Musical at the awards, while acting legend Lesley Manville took the Best Actress prize for her performance as shocked royal spouse Jocasta in “Oedipus.”
Director Robert Icke’s modern-day reimagining of the ancient Greek tragedy was named Best Revival of a play.
Imelda Staunton won the fifth Olivier of her career, Best Actress in a Musical, for “Hello, Dolly!”, while Best Actor in a Musical went to John Dagleish as the titular man who ages in reverse in “Benjamin Button.”
Here is the full list of winners of the 2025 Olivier Awards:
- New Play: “Giant”
- New Musical: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
- New Entertainment or Comedy: “Titanique”
- Family Show: “Brainiac Live”
- Revival: “Oedipus”
- Musical Revival: “Fiddler on the Roof”
- Actress-Play: Lesley Manville, “Oedipus”
- Actor-Play: John Lithgow, “Giant”
- Actress-Musical: Imelda Staunton, “Hello, Dolly!”
- Actor-Musical: John Dagleish, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
- Supporting Actor-Play: Elliot Levey, “Giant”
- Supporting Actress-Play: Romola Garai, “The Years”
- Supporting Actress-Musical: Maimuna Memon, “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”
- Supporting Actor-Musical: Layton Williams, “Titanique”
- Director: Eline Arbo, “The Years”
- Outstanding Musical Contribution: Darren Clark and Mark Aspinall, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
- Theater Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ The Musical”
- New Opera Production: “Festen”
- Outstanding Achievement in Opera: Allan Clayton, “Festen”
- New Dance Production: “Assembly Hall”
- Outstanding Achievement in Dance: Eva Yerbabuena, “Yerbagüena”
- Set Design: Tom Scutt, “Fiddler on the Roof”
- Lighting Design: Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs, “Oliver!”
- Sound Design: Nick Lidster, “Fiddler on the Roof”
- Costume Design: Gabriella Slade, “Starlight Express”
- Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theater: “Boys on the Verge of Tears,” Soho Theatre
