PlayShakespeare.com Announces 10th Annual Falstaff Awards for 2016

News provided by

Mar 07, 2017, 07:30 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, March 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PlayShakespeare.com is pleased to announce the nominees and winners for the annual Falstaff Awards for 2016. With PlayShakespeare.com's international reach, reviewers worldwide have come together to honor the best in Shakespeare for the year of 2016. The Falstaff Awards recognize extraordinary achievement in the areas of Best Play, Best Director, Best Principal Actor or Actress, among other performance and technical categories.

The Falstaff Awards recognize extraordinary achievement in Shakespeare

The year 2016 celebrated the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with special events all over the globe. One of the highlights was the three-part miniseries The Hollow Crown: Wars of the Roses, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Sophie Okonedo, Judi Dench and many others. It is the Falstaff Award winner for Best Film.

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival took home the Best Play award for their outstanding production of As You Like It. Julia Coffey was nominated for Best Principal Actress for her portrayal of Rosalind in that production and Gaye Taylor Upchurch was nominated in the Best Director category for her amazing work.

Eleven nominations, the highest number for any theatre this year, went to the Royal Shakespeare Company for their productions of The Tempest (5), King Lear (3), and Hamlet (3). Veteran Shakespearean Antony Sher won the Best Principal Actor award for his portrayal of King Lear and Paapa Essiedu won for his portrayal as Edmund in the same production.

The gender-bending highlight of the year was Michelle Terry's performance as Hal in Henry V at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. This strong portrayal of a young prince coming of age by a powerful actress won her the Falstaff Award for Best Principal Actress.

Of note the Lear Award for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Simon Russell Beale, who was also nominated for his portrayal of Prospero in the RSC's Tempest.

"The global celebrations of the 400th anniversary of his death showed how much the world is still in love with William Shakespeare," said Ron Severdia, Founder of PlayShakespeare.com and creator the Shakespeare Pro app. "Though there may be challenging times ahead, the artistic community should keep the momentum and focus their creativity on effecting positive change in the world. Shakespeare wrote 'Action is eloquence.' and it truly is."

The complete list of nominees and winners can be found at:

http://www.playshakespeare.com/falstaff

http://www.falstaffawards.com

Media contact:
Ron Severdia
[email protected]
(415) 446-9047

SOURCE PlayShakespeare.com