Theatre awards cuts actor and actresses categories for ‘male or female identifying’ roles
Organisers of the Whatsonstage Awards have replaced actor and actress categories with performer in a male or female identifying role.
The change was announced with the release of this year’s list of nominations for the awards, and comes after the BRIT Awards also scrapped its gendered categories.
It is thought that the new categorisation was introduced in part because one of this year’s nominees for the award previously known as “best actress” is Emma Corrin, according to The Telegraph.
Corrin, shot to fame from Netflix’s The Crown, and recently came out as queer.
The new terminology also applies to supporting roles and to musicals as well as plays.
Whatsonstage have been contacted for comment.