British ready to take Broadway awards by storm

Rylance, who is up for best actor, heads the cast in Jez Butterworth’s play Jerusalem which has attracted six nominations for the theatre prizes.

Also up for a Tony is co-star Mackenzie Crook, best known to television viewers as Gareth from the hit comedy show The Office. He is nominated for best supporting actor.

Vanessa Redgrave is in the running for best actress, against stars such as Frances McDormand.

Joanna Lumley will compete for the best supporting actress in a play prize for her performance in La Bête.

Leading the nominations is The Book Of Mormon created by the team behind near-the-knuckle animated TV series South Park. The production has been shortlisted for 14 awards.

War Horse, created by British writer Michael Morpurgo, which originally opened at the National Theatre in London, is up for five prizes including best play and best direction. It uses life size puppets of horses, controlled by actors on stage, and is based on a children’s story about a horse sent to serve on the front line during World War One.

A film version directed by Steven Spielberg is also due for release later this year.

It competes for best play against Jerusalem – a play about a wanted man living in a caravan in rural England – which opened at London’s Royal Court theatre in 2009.

It later transferred to the West End, opening on Broadway last month.

The Tony nomination for Rylance, artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe for a decade, follows rave reviews from US critics for the play.

He lines up against Pacino, nominated for his performance in The Merchant Of Venice.

The Tony Awards take place on June 12 at The Beacon Theatre in New York.