Comedian Elf Lyons has won a prestigious Sky Arts Award. Her win was announced at an event hosted by Bill Bailey at the Roundhouse in London. Lyons won the award for her most recent show, Horses.
Guests from the Arts world in attendance this evening included Bob Geldof, Sir Lenny Henry, Anita Rani, Myleene Klass, and Jim Moir plus many more. Guests were treated to an array of striking live performances from the Royal Ballet and Bob Geldof’s iconic rock band The Boomtown Rats, Dirty Blonde and Nyah Grace all lighting up the stage. Back on home turf, ska-pop legends Madness closed the celebrations in style.
Nominees across all categories were shortlisted and assessed by independent juries comprised of industry peers from all artistic disciplines. Tonight’s ceremony, broadcast on Sky Arts and Freeview, saw a host of artists take home the coveted awards.
Lola Young received the Popular Music award for her unflinching, unapologetic album ‘This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway.’ Standout drama Adolescence, which raised urgent questions about youth violence and sparked debate in Parliament was victorious in the Television category, while Conclave took the Film gong.
Nederlands Dans Theatre and Complicité won the accolade for Dance for their interdisciplinary and fearless work ‘Figures in Extinction.’ As well as celebrating established artists, the Awards also shone a light on emerging talent with The Times Breakthrough Award, which was presented this year to Owen Cooper, who gave a remarkable, breakthrough performance in ‘Adolescence’ and has just become the youngest ever male actor to win an Emmy.
Further wins include LUNG who took home the Theatre award for their bold musical ‘The Children’s Inquiry,’ Opera North won in the Opera category for ‘Simon Boccanegra’ directed by PJ Harris with Antony Hermus conducting. Barbara Walker’s ‘Being Here’ won for Visual Art and Bold Tendencies for Classical Music, whilst Caleb Femi’s life-affirming work ‘The Wickedest’ and Sally Rooney’s devastating exploration of grief in ‘Intermezzo’ were awarded the Poetry and Literature awards, respectively.
Bob Geldof was this year’s recipient of The Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sky Arts Awards also honours the unsung heroes from the Arts world and this year’s Arts Hero award was clinched by Diane Carroll, who is the Assistant Manager at Òran Mór in Glasgow, and since 2004 has been working the ticket desk for the venue's lunchtime phenomenon A Play, A Pie and A Pint, checking people in and giving the warmest welcome at over 600 shows. Diane knows many people by name and is loved by regulars who come every week to the shows - and some just to see Diane.
All winners were presented with this year’s statuette, designed and made by Lindsey Mendick, last year’s Visual Art award winner. On creating the awards, Lindsey took inspiration from a number of sources and wanted to subvert the iconic BAFTA statuette. On the importance of the arts, Lindsey commented: “The arts are so important because they mirror back a breadth of our feelings. Artistic expression will be one of the things that will continue long after we’re all here and it’s so important to be here as a document of our time.”
Phil Edgar-Jones OBE, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, said: “The Sky Arts awards celebrates the very best in our Arts and Culture – and we believe we need the joy our artists, singers, dancers, musicians, writer and poets bring more than ever.
It’s but telling our stories and listening to the stories of others that we can create a more empathetic society. We need this more than ever in an increasingly divided world. We believe that by bringing our stories to everyone for free we can make a difference and celebrate the joy our creative industries provide.”
The Sky Arts Awards is commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky for Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios & Chief Content Officer for Sky.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
- THEATRE: LUNG
- DANCE: Nederlands Dans Theatre and Complicité
- TELEVISION: Adolescence
- OPERA: Opera North
- CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bold Tendencies
- COMEDY: Elf Lyons
- FILM: Conclave
- VISUAL ART: Barbara Walker
- POETRY: Caleb Femi
- LITERATURE: Sally Rooney
- POPULAR MUSIC: Lola Young
- ARTS HERO: Diane Carroll
- THE TIMES BREAKTHROUGH: Owen Cooper
- LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Bob Geldof
