'Cabaret', 'Life of Pi' Win Big At London’s Olivier Awards For Theatre

A critically-acclaimed revival of the musical Cabaret and a stage adaptation of the hit novel Life of Pi were the big winners at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, scooping the top prizes in Britain's biggest night for theatre.

After a two-year sabbatical due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the London theatre community reunited for a glitzy and grand ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall.

Cabaret had led nominations with 11 nods. It won seven awards, including Best Musical Revival and prizes for actors Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley.

Cabaret also won Best Supporting Acting awards for Elliot Levey and Liza Sadovy and Best Director for Rebecca Frecknall.

Originally produced on Broadway in 1966, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Cabaret follows the lives of characters linked to a seedy Berlin nightclub during the rise of the Nazis.

Frecknall said the musical was poignant "now with everything that is happening internationally".

Life of Pi, based on Yann Martel's book about a boy stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger, won five awards, including Best New Play, Best Actor for Hiran Abeysekera, and Best Supporting Actor for the seven performers portraying the show's puppet tiger.