Irreverent musical ”The Book of Mormon” and hit geopolitical drama ”Chimerica” were the big winners Sunday at Britain’s Olivier stage awards, on a night when London’s small theaters rule the roost.
”The Book of Mormon” _ which stormed London just as it earlier wowed New York won four prizes, including best new musical and best actor in a musical, for Gavin Creel.
Choreographer and co-director Casey Nicholas said the success of the show _ written by ”South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone came down to its blend of ”good contemporary satire and good old-fashioned entertainment.”
Lucy Kirkwood’s ”Chimerica,” a play about the entwined fates of China and the United States that opens with a search for the protester photographed standing in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square in 1989, won five trophies including best new play and best director, for Lyndsey Turner.