The WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Female Identifying Role in a Play is an annual award presented by WhatsOnStage.com as part of the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, the WhatsOnStage Awards are based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions in London's West End theatre.
This award is given to a person who has performed a leading female identifying role in a play during the eligibility year. Introduced in 2001 as the award for Best Actress in a Play, the category was renamed in 2022 in an effort to be more inclusive. The category was discontinued following the 2022 ceremony and was replaced with the gender-neutral WhatsOnstage Award for Best Performer in a Play.
Kristin Scott Thomas and Billie Piper are the only performers to have won the award twice. Helen McCrory holds the record for most nominations in the category, with five, and also the most nominations without a win.
Winners and nominees 2000s Year Performer Play Female Identifying Character 2001 Julie Walters All My Sons Katie Keller 2002 Victoria Hamilton A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Sheila Katrin Cartlidge Boy Gets Girl Theresa Bedell Lindsay Duncan Mouth to Mouth Laura Fiona Shaw Medea Medea Rachel Weisz The Shape of Things Evelyn Ann Thompson Lia Williams The Homecoming Ruth 2003 Gillian Anderson What The Night Is For Melinda Metz Clare Higgins Vincent in Brixton Ursula Loyer Gwyneth Paltrow Proof Catherine Helen McCrory Uncle Vanya / Twelfth Night Helena Andreyevna Serebryakova / Olivia Judi Dench The Breath of Life Frances Beale Maggie Smith Madeleine Palmer Samantha Bond Macbeth Lady Macbeth 2004 Kristin Scott Thomas Three Sisters Maria Sergeyevna Kulygina Diana Quick After Mrs Rochester Jean Rhys Eileen Atkins Honour Honour Eve Best Three Sisters / Mourning Becomes Electra Maria Sergeyevna Kulygina / Lavinia Mannon Janet McTeer The Duchess of Malfi The Duchess Janie Dee Betrayal Emma 2005 Diana Rigg Suddenly Last Summer Violet Venable Anna Maxwell Martin His Dark Materials Lyra BelacquaClare Higgins Hecuba HecubaFrances Barber One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Nurse RatchedJoanna Riding Blithe Spirit Ruth CondomineVictoria Hamilton Suddenly Last Summer Catharine 2006 Kristin Scott Thomas As You Desire Me Elma Clare Higgins Death of a Salesman Linda Loman Helen McCrory As You Like It Rosalind Harriet Walter Mary Stuart Elizabeth I Janet McTeer Mary, Queen of Scots Sheila Hancock The Anniversary Mrs. Taggart 2007 Judi Dench Hay Fever Judith Bliss Eve Best A Moon for the Misbegotten Josie Felicity Kendal Amy's View Esme Allen Kathleen Turner Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Virginia Woolf Rosamund Pike Summer and Smoke Alma Winemiller Sinéad Cusack Rock 'n' Roll Eleanor/Esme 2008 Maggie Smith The Lady from Dubuque Jo Anne-Marie Duff Saint Joan Joan of Arc Janie Dee Shadowlands Joy Gresham Kate Fleetwood Macbeth Lady Macbeth Kristin Scott Thomas The Seagull Irina Arkadina Tamsin Greig Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice 2009 Katy Stephens The Histories Joan of Arc/Margaret of Anjou Deanna Dunagan August: Osage County Violet Weston Lesley Sharp Harper Regan Harper Regan Lindsay Duncan That Face Martha Margaret Tyzack The Chalk Garden Mrs. St. Maugham Penelope Wilton Miss Madrigal
2010s Year Performer Play Female Identifying Character 2010 Rachel Weisz A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche DuBois Alison Steadman Enjoy Connie Craven Fiona Shaw Mother Courage and Her Children Mother Courage Helen Mirren Phèdre Phaedra Juliet Stevenson Duet for One Stephanie Lesley Sharp The Rise and Fall of Little Voice Mari Hoff 2011 Zoë Wanamaker All My Sons Kate Keller Helen McCrory The Late Middle Classes Celia Smithers Jenny Jules Ruined Mama Kim Cattrall Private Lives Amanda Prynne Nancy Carroll After the Dance Joan Scott-Fowler Tracie Bennett End of the Rainbow Judy Garland 2012 Vanessa Redgrave Driving Miss Daisy Daisy Werthan Eve Best Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Kristin Scott Thomas Betrayal Emma Ruth Wilson Anna Christie Anna Christie Samantha Spiro Chicken Soup with Barley Sarah Kahn Tamsin Greig Jumpy Hilary 2013 Sheridan Smith Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler Billie Piper The Effect Connie Hattie Morahan A Doll's House Nora Helmer Jill Halfpenny Abigail's Party Beverly Moss Julie Walters The Last of the Haussmans Judy Haussman Sally Hawkins Constellations Marianne 2014 Helen Mirren The Audience Queen Elizabeth II Anne-Marie Duff Strange Interlude Nina Leeds Hayley Atwell The Pride Sylvia Suranne Jones Beautiful Thing Sandra Tanya Moodie Fences Rose Maxson 2015 Billie Piper Great Britain Paige Britain Gillian Anderson A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche DuBois Helen McCrory Medea Medea Imelda Staunton Good People Margie Walsh Lucy Briggs-Owen Shakespeare in Love Viola de Lesseps 2016 Nicole Kidman Photograph 51 Rosalind Franklin Rosalie Craig As You Like It Rosalind Denise Gough People, Places and Things Emma Harriet Walter Death of a Salesman Linda Loman Lia Williams Oresteia Clytemnestra 2017 Billie Piper Yerma Yerma Lily James Romeo and Juliet Juliet Capulet Pixie Lott Breakfast at Tiffany's Holly Golightly Helen McCrory The Deep Blue Sea Hester Collyer Michelle Terry Henry V Henry V 2018 Olivia Colman Mosquitos Jenny Eve Best Love In Idleness Olivia Brown Natalie Dormer Venus in Fur Vanda von Dunayev Tamsin Greig Labour of Love Jean Whittaker Imelda Staunton Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Virginia Woolf 2019 Sophie Okonedo Antony and Cleopatra Cleopatra Carey Mulligan Girls & Boys Performer Charlie Murphy The Lieutenant of Inishmore Mairead Katherine Parkinson Home, I'm Darling Judy Patsy Ferran Summer and Smoke Alma Winemiller
2020s Year Performer Play Female Identifying Character 2020 Claire Foy Lungs W Zawe Ashton Betrayal Emma Hayley Atwell Rosmersholm Rebecca West Sharon D. Clarke Death of a Salesman Linda Loman Juliet Stevenson The Doctor The Doctor 2021 Not presented due to impact on theatres of COVID-19 pandemic 2022 Lily Allen 2:22 A Ghost Story Jenny Gemma Arterton Walden Stella Sheila Atim Constellations Marianne Emma Corrin Anna X Anna Patsy Ferran Camp Siegfried Her Saoirse Ronan The Tragedy of Macbeth Lady Macbeth
Multiple wins and nominations Wins 2 wins Billie Piper Kristin Scott Thomas
Nominations 5 nominations Helen McCrory
4 nominations Eve Best Kristin Scott Thomas
3 nominations Tamsin Greig Clare Higgins Billie Piper
2 nominations
References
External links Official website