Sarah Snook has been nominated for one of theatre’s highest honours for her “breath-taking” performance in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, currently playing on London’s West End.

Snook is one of five nominees in the  2024 Olivier Awards Best Actress category which also includes Sarah Jessica Parker for Plaza Suite, Sheridan Smith (Shirley Valentine), Sophie Okonedo (Medea) and Laura Donnelly for The Hills of California.

Sarah Snook in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Photo © Marc Brenner

Under the direction of Artistic Director Kip Williams, Snook performs 26 different characters – live and pre-recorded – in a role originated by Eryn Jean Norvill.  The work also received a second Oliviers nod with the nomination of Australian designer Marg Horwell for the Mithridate Award for Best Costume Design.

Australian talents feature prominently in the 2024 nominations. Tim Minchin’s musical Groundhog Day is up for Best Musical Revival and Bluey creator Joe Brumm has been nominated for Best Family Show (Bluey’s Big Play). The 2023 Olivier Award for Best Actress went to Jodie Comer for her role in Prima Facie, written by Australian-British playwright Suzie Miller.

Other 2024 nominees for the Olivier Awards include Andrew Scott, David Tennant, Es Devlin, Antonio Pappano and The Lehman Trilogy director Sam Mendes.

Born in Adelaide, Snook was launched into international fame for her portrayal of  Shiv Roy in HBO’s Succession. In 2023, She received an Emmy for the role. In a five-star review of her West End performance in February, Limelight Editor-at-Large Clive Paget wrote, “With Snook single-handedly embodying 26 characters in a breath-taking tour de force performance, it looks like Sydney Theatre Company has an international hit on its hands.”

“Snook is remarkable… she’s both a talented comedian and a warmly inviting actor. She’s also a chameleon, running the gamut from dowager duchess to wrinkly stockinged retainer. Refreshingly free from dramatic artifice, she’s strikingly good on screen, baring her soul in a series of intensely expressive closeups.”

The Olivier Awards ceremony will take place on 14 April at the Royal Albert Hall.