Belfast actor Michael Patrick has won an accolade at one of the UK’s most prestigious theatre awards for his “truly astonishing” performance in a reinterpretation of a Shakespeare classic.
The performer, who has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (NMD) and uses a wheelchair, received the Judges’ Award at The Stage Awards on Monday at London’s Royal Opera House.
The gong was awarded for the 34-year-old’s performance in The Tragedy of Richard III, which was staged at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre last autumn.
Judges praised the star, along with his creative colleague and director Oisín Kearney, for incorporating elements of Michael’s real-life experience with his own terminal illness into their production of the Shakespeare play.
Their adaptation has the character of King Richard - born with a deformity in real life in 1452 - diagnosed with a terminal illness and confined to a wheelchair.
Michael’s turn in the role was hailed by judges as a “landmark performance in a production that centred disability and disabled performers”.
“Acting performances are regularly described as brave, but there can be very few performers who have displayed the fortitude on stage that Michael did in this production. It was truly astonishing,” they said.
The awards are hosted by theatre publication The Stage, whose editor Alistair Smith said: “This year’s winners exemplify the resilience, creativity and innovation that define our industry, and we’re proud to shine a spotlight on their remarkable contributions to theatre.”
- Actor Michael Patrick on finding humour amid MND in the Tragedy of Richard IIIOpens in new window
- My Left Nut's Michael Patrick: My top beer kind of tastes like feet, but in a good wayOpens in new window
- My Left Nut creators Michael Patrick and Oisín Kearney on translating their acclaimed show from stage to screenOpens in new window
Michael Patrick’s previous experience in performing the works of history’s most famous playwright include Royal Shakespeare Company productions of The Taming of the Shrew and Measure for Measure.
Along with acting, Michael has turned his skills to writing, having penned 2020 BBC Three comedy series My Left Nut alongside Oisin Kearney.
In an interview with the Irish News in October ahead of his play’s run at the Lyric, Michael Patrick described the difficulties in becoming “emotionally detached” from a character living with the same illness as himself.
“It is never mentioned on stage by name, but Richard’s terminal illness is MND - so I think...especially in that final speech, it is more myself speaking than him,” the actor explained.
“His fear of death is my own fear of death and I think I exorcise some of my own demons through him on stage.”
