February 4th, 2009 by Warren Moore

David Tennant has been left off the shortlist for the Laurence Olivier Awards after being judged ineligible due to missing so many performances of Hamlet.

Nominations for this year’s Laurence Olivier Awards, the UK’s most prestigious stage awards, were announced yesterday February 3. Surprising to many the Laurence Olivier Awards judging panel excluded David Tennant from the voting despite the fact his brief portrayal of Hamlet was the West End’s most talked-about event of 2008.

A back had injury forced Tennant to pull out of the opening night and limited him to only a handful of appearances at London’s Novello Theatre before the run ended. Nevertheless, critics heaped praise on his performance. The production was recognised in other categories, with Tennant’s co-stars, Patrick Stewart and Oliver Ford Davies, picking up best supporting actor nominations for the roles of Claudius and Polonius respectively.

A spokesman for the Laurence Oliver Awards  explained: ‘Unfortunately, David Tennant could not be considered. There are nine judges and not all of them were able to see him in Hamlet because he didn’t appear in enough performances.’

Following this hugely popular Hamlet production which ended earlier this year, theatregoers who missed out will be keen to get to get hold of tickets. Fear not the latest production of Hamlet staring Hollywood star Jude Law is set to start on June 3 at the Wyndham’s Theatre. Previews begin on May 29 and hundreds of Hamlet tickets are currently available from £60.