War Horse's Sion Daniel Young wins 'Best Dramatic Performance' Award!

Following a short one week voting period we are thrilled to announce that Sion Daniel Young (pictured right) has won the West End Frame Award for 'Best Dramatic Performance' for his portrayal of Albert Narracott in the West End production of War Horse.

Sion joined the production at the New London Theatre earlier this year and continues to play the role to great acclaim. Our 'Best Dramatic Performance' Award is a celebration of the most powerful and heart wrenching performances which move audiences night after night in theatreland.

The final result was very close with only two percent separating the top two nominees. Gerónimo Rauch, who recently joined The Phantom of the Opera in the title role, is the first runner-up while Les Miserables' Daniel Koek (Jean Valjean) comes third and The Color Purple's Cynthia Erivo comes fourth, marking the first West End Frame Award nomination for an off-West End production. The Pride's Al Weaver comes fifth.

Best Dramatic Performance: The Full Result

Below is the full result for West End Frame's 'Best Dramatic Performance' Award which ran as part of the 2013 West End Frame Awards for one week in October. The final result was very close with only two percent separating the top two nominees. Click here for more info.

Winner

Sion Daniel Young

Albert Narracott / War Horse

41% of the final vote

Interview: Al Weaver, currently starring in The Pride

Al Weaver is currently starring as Oliver in Jamie Lloyd’s production of The Pride at Trafalgar Studios. Written by Alexi Kaye Campbell, The Pride is running as part of Jamie Lloyd’s West End season, Trafalgar Transformed, which has so far also seen acclaimed productions of Macbeth and The Hothouse.

Featuring a complex love triangle, The Pride (which runs until 9th November) delves into the attitudes towards homosexuality in both 1958 and the present day. The play, which premiered Upstairs at the Royal Court in 2008, also stars Hayley Atwell, Harry Hadden-Paton and Mathew Horne.

Al stage credits include: Inadmissible Evidence at the Donmar Warehouse, The Seagull at the Arcola Theatre, The House of Games at the Almeida Theatre, How to Curse at the Bush Theatre, Coram Boy at the National Theatre, and Hamlet at the Old Vic. 

His television credits include: Southcliffe, The Frontier, Secret State, Sherlock – The Blind Banker, Survivors, Personal Affairs and The Devil’s Whore. Al’s film credits include: Honeymooner, Powder, Me and Orson Welles, Marie Antoinette and The Merchant of Venice.

Recently I spoke to Al about his last minute casting, working with Jamie Lloyd and why he doesn’t find the show draining…

You’re now well into the run of The Pride, how’s it going?

Oh it’s great! We’ve had lovely audiences and the play seems to be having a really strong effect on them which is really important.

Feature: The Pride’s Stonewall Gala provides refreshing, thought provoking evening

Despite having heard incredible things about Jamie Lloyd’s production of The Pride, as I took my seat for the preshow discussion on the evening of the Stonewall Gala, I had yet to actually see the play. About a complex love triangle, The Pride delves into the attitudes towards homosexuality in both 1958 and the present day. The play is in the middle of its run at Trafalgar Studios as part of Jamie Lloyd’s season Trafalgar Transformed which has so far also seen critically acclaimed productions of Macbeth and The Hothouse. If the talk made anything instantly clear, it was that The Pride is a piece to which there is a great deal of passion and meaning attached.

The Pride's cast and creative team during rehearsals

The panel for the discussion was made up of Alexi Kaye-Campbell (playwright), Will Young, Layton Williams and comedienne Suzi Ruffell. The main angle of the discussion was directed towards how homophobic bullying could be tackled within our schools. Each guest was given the opportunity to share their own, often moving stories which brought a lovely touch of sentimentality and reality to the event.