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In a distinctly American-themed night, "The
Inheritance", a play about the generation after the peak of the
AIDS crisis, was joint overall winner with four awards: best new
play, best director (Stephen Daldry), best actor (Kyle Soller)
and best lighting.
Written by Matthew Lopez, the two-part play transposes E.M.
Forster's classic 1910 novel "Howards End" to modern New York,
where a group of young, ambitious men ponder their existence and
the previous generation's legacy.
"I don't have the proper vocabulary ... It feels like an
out-of-body experience ... a bit crazy," Soller told Reuters
after winning the award over other nominees like Ian McKellen
and David Suchet.
"To be speaking for a community where there's so much pain, so
much healing to be done, it is just really incredible, very
emotional," he added.
In his acceptance speech, Soller paid tribute to the victims of
AIDS and lamented that in some nations people can still be
stoned to death for being gay.
"Come From Away", a musical about the power of kindness among
air passengers grounded in Canada after the 2001 attacks on New
York and Washington, also won four awards including best new
musical.
"Company", a reworking of U.S. composer Stephen Sondheim's
comedy with a woman instead of a man in the lead role, took
three prizes including best musical revival.
"Summer And Smoke", a rarely-staged Tennessee Williams' drama
about love, loneliness and self-destruction set in small-town
Mississippi, took two honors for best actress (Patsy Ferran) and
best revival.
"I wasn't expecting it ... Nobody knows who I am," Ferran told
Reuters afterwards, clutching a glass of champagne. "I might be
slightly hung over tomorrow, don't tell anyone!"
Prince Charles' wife Camilla joined stars of British theater for
the glitzy ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Marie-Louise
Gumuchian; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Daniel Wallis
and Sonya Hepinstall)
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