Allan Clayton nominated for Olivier Award

Allan Clayton has been nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his role in Mark-Anthony Turnage's new opera Festen at Royal Ballet & Opera, Covent Garden. The opera has also been nominated for Best New Opera Production.

Based on the seminal Dogme 95 film of the same name, with a libretto by Lee Hall, the production was directed by Richard Jones and conducted by Edward Gardner and has received five-star reviews across the press.

Bachtrack wrote of Clayton's performance: 'As Christian, the prodigal son who returns to the event to shake everything up by calling his father out on his abusive past, Allan Clayton was at his very best, giving a bizarre but completely credible mix of the goofiness we’ve seen from him in roles like Candide, the hard edge of a Peter Grimes and absolute beauty of voice in his lyrical moments.'

Operawire reviewed it saying: 'Performances across the board are stellar... Chief among them is Allan Clayton, troubled soul par excellence, whose vocal power is undimmed and ability to sing a pianissimo on a big stage still unbeaten.'

The Guardian described Clayton's performance as 'passionate' and 'heartbreaking' and wrote that 'The orchestral score drives this tragedy inexorably, with Turnage showing an infallible sense of when to allow the quiet power of the words to speak for themselves and when to allow his music to take charge, as the action flips from black comedy to bleak horror'. 

The winners will be announced on 6 April at a ceremony in the Royal Albert Hall. 

Festen will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 22 March, and available after that on BBC Sounds.