Paapa Essiedu used his acceptance speech at the Olivier Awards to call for sustained funding for grassroots theatre organisations. The awards ceremony, which celebrates the best of British theatre, was held on Sunday at the Royal Albert Hall and hosted by Nick Mohammed.
Essiedu, 35, won best actor in a supporting role for his performance as Chris Keller in All My Sons at the Wyndham’s Theatre.
The actor, set to play Professor Snape in an upcoming Harry Potter reboot series, has recently revealed he received race-fuelled death threats following the casting announcement. The role was previously portrayed by Alan Rickman in the original film franchise, and Essiedu’s casting triggered backlash from some fans online.
During his acceptance speech, Essiedu said: “I remember being in that room, and even though I didn’t have the language, I didn’t have the vocabulary, hadn’t been to the theatres, my creativity was still celebrated, nurtured, and valued. And that gave me access to being in this room with people like you today”.
“And they are amazing organisations all over the country, like the Ignition, like Intermission, New Theatre, like the National Youth Theatre, like Open Door Theatre, which are doing such brilliant work, but as we all know, their funding has been cut year on year on year,” the actor added.
“I urge everyone in this room, everyone watching at home, and everyone at governmental level, to continue funding these organisations to make sure that the next generation of theatre makers had the opportunities that I had,” he further said.
Essiedu is best known for roles on stage and screen including in Hamlet, as well as television series Gangs of London and I May Destroy You.
“Growing up I never really went to the theatre, I didn’t go to youth theatre, to be honest I hadn’t heard of the Oliviers and I didn’t have access to it. I only got access to the theatre because of the Frantic Assembly and their Ignition which is specifically aimed towards young people from backgrounds who do not have previous acting or theatre experience,” Essiedu also said.
Among other winners on the night, Rachel Zegler took home Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Evita at the London Palladium, while Rosamund Pike won Best Actress for her role in Inter Alia at the National Theatre.
Best Director was awarded to Luke Sheppard for Paddington The Musical at the Savoy Theatre, which also won Best New Musical.