Stanley (play)
play by Pam Gems
Stanley is a 1996 play written by English playwright Pam Gems. The play premiered at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in London.
Plot synopsis
The play explores the complicated life of British painter Stanley Spencer, who was played by Antony Sher in the play's London and Broadway debuts.
Spencer was a twentieth-century painter whose work attempted to combine the sexual with the divine in contemporary English settings. His paintings frequently showed biblical scenes taking place in ordinary English villages, particularly Cookham, and often depicted or used figures inspired by his friends, relatives and lovers.
Spencer married two different women; he left his first wife, Hilda Carline, an artist who put her ambition aside to make a home for him, to marry Patricia Preece, a defiantly unconventional lesbian who made her reputation as an artist by passing off the works of her lover, Dorothy Hepworth, as her own, and who was incapable of loving him. Much of the play revolves around his passionate attachment to both women.
Awards and nominations
Awards
1996 Evening Standard Award for Best Play
1997 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
1997 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor- Antony Sher
1997 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Deborah Findlay
1997 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Designer- Tim Hatley
Nominations
1997 Tony Award for Best Play
1997 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play- Antony Sher
1997 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play- John Caird
1997 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Anna Chancellor
References
Gems, Pam (1996). Stanley (First ed.). London: Nick Hern Books.
“Stanley (play)” enters the record as play by Pam Gems. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Stanley, play and Gems can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7599415. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1996 and 1997.
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