Organisers of the Whatsonstage Awards have replaced actor and actress categories with performer in a male or female identifying role.
The change was announced with the release of this year's list of nominations for the awards.
It is thought that the new categorisation was introduced in part because one of this year’s nominees for the award previously known as “best actress” is Emma Corrin.
Corrin, who found fame as Diana, Princess of Wales in The Crown, recently came out as queer and updated the pronouns on her Instagram profile to she/they, indicating that both were acceptable.
In an interview with ITV, Corrin said: “My journey has been a long one and has still got a long way to go. I think we are so used to defining ourselves.
“That’s the way society works within these binaries and it’s taken me a long time to realise that I exist somewhere in between and I’m still not sure where that is yet.”
New terminology
Corrin has been nominated for her stage debut in Anna X, playing a character based on the Russian fraudster Anna Sorokin, who conned Manhattan society into believing she was a wealthy heiress.
The best performer in a female identifying role in a play category also includes Lily Allen for 2:22 A Ghost Story, Gemma Arterton for Walden, Sheila Atim for Constellations, Patsy Ferran for Camp Siegfried and Saoirse Ronan for The Tragedy of Macbeth.
The new terminology also applies to supporting roles and to musicals as well as plays.
Best performer in a male identifying role in a musical includes a nomination for Eddie Redmayne in Cabaret.
He had been forced to defend his casting as Emcee, a character who has historically been portrayed as homosexual or bisexual, after it attracted some criticism because Redmayne is heterosexual.
The decision to ditch the idea of awarding prizes to an “actor” or “actress” follows an announcement last month that the Brit Awards is to remove male and female prizes, instead awarding gender-neutral artist of the year and international artist of the year awards.
The Whatsonstage Awards are important to the industry because they represent the tastes of theatregoers, as it is the only theatre prize-giving ceremony at which winners are chosen by the general public.
Frozen leads the list
The list of nominations is led by Frozen, currently running at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
It has 13 nominations across acting and creative categories including Samantha Barks and Stephanie McKeon for best performer in a female identifying role in a musical, and Oliver Ormson and Obioma Ugoala for best supporting performer in a male identifying role in a musical.
Its rivals for best new musical are Cinderella, Back to the Future, Pretty Woman, Moulin Rouge! and the Bob Marley show Get Up, Stand Up!
Best new play will go to either Magic Goes Wrong, 2:22 A Ghost Story, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), J’Ouvert or Leopoldstadt.
The play with a leading five nominations is The Tragedy of Macbeth, which recently finished its run at the Almeida.
Actors vying for best performer in a male identifying role in a play include Richard Armitage for Uncle Vanya and James McAvoy for Cyrano de Bergerac.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on February 27.
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