Singapore’s Anjana Vasan wins best actress at UK’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards

LONDON – Playing Stella Kowalski in the 2022 West End revival of A Streetcar Named Desire has been a rewarding experience for London-based Singaporean actress Anjana Vasan.

In April, she was named best supporting actress at the prestigious Olivier Awards for the role in American playwright Tennessee Williams’ classic work.

And on Nov 19, the 36-year-old became the first Singaporean to win the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress at the 67th Evening Standard Theatre Awards held at London’s Claridge’s hotel.

She tied with Spanish-British actress Patsy Ferran, who portrayed Stella’s sister Blanche DuBois in the same play.

The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, organised by the London-based newspaper, is England’s oldest theatre awards and celebrates the best performances in London’s West End.

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Vasan and Ferran appeared stunned when their names were called, before realising they were to share the award. Both actresses were briefly speechless and gaped at each other when they were on stage to receive their trophies, reported The Evening Standard.

“This is honestly the best outcome,” said Ferran, 33, as the women addressed the cheering crowd together.

Added Vasan: “If I had won alone, I would have given it to her.”

Vasan told The Evening Standard she was not expecting to be nominated in the best actress category as Stella “is usually seen as a supporting role and the play is absolutely about Blanche”.

After completing her drama training at the Royal Welsh College, the rising star began building her career in the United Kingdom. She was previously nominated for best actress at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her performance in A Doll’s House in 2019.

She is now filming the second season of We Are Lady Parts (2021 to present), for which she earned a Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nomination in 2022 for playing punk singer Amina in the British comedy series about an all-female Muslim punk-rock band.

Vasan was last seen on the small screen in the Demon 79 episode of the sixth season of sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror (2011 to present) and the fourth season of spy thriller Killing Eve (2018 to 2022).