OLIVIERS 2014: Reflections - Best Actress

The Olivier prize for Best Actress 2014 was awarded to first-time winner Lesley Manville for her part in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts - a production nominated for five awards itself.

Manville's intense portrayal of widower Helene Alving, a woman consumed with the struggle to control her emotions and escape her past, led to her defeating three other nominees in a category that included seven-time Olivier Award-winner Dame Judi Dench, who was nominated for her role as Alice in Logan's Peter and Alice.

In accepting her trophy, and acknowledging her fellow nominees, Lesley Manville said: "I am so happy, I am beside myself with happiness."

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