Lesley Manville Wins First Tony Award for Broadway Debut Performance in Oedipus
Manville earned her first Tony nomination and win for playing Jocasta in Robert Icke’s Broadway adaptation of Sophocles’ tragedy
(Photo by Emilio Madrid for Broadway.com)
What to Know
- Lesley Manville won the 2026 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for her performance as Jocasta in Robert Icke’s Broadway adaptation of Oedipus
- Manville made her Broadway debut in the reimagined production of Sophocles’ classic tragedy, earning her first Tony nomination and win
- Manville previously won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in the West End production of Oedipus, and is also an Academy Award nominee for her performance in Phantom Thread
Make way for mother. Lesley Manville won the 2026 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for her performance as Jocasta in Robert Icke’s adaptation of Sophocles’ Oedipus. The win was announced at the 79th Annual Tonys ceremony at Radio City Music Hall on June 7.
This marks Manville's first Tony nomination and win. Manville made her Broadway debut in the reimagining of the classic tragedy as a modern political thriller. Manville won her second Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance in the West End production of Oedipus. She is an Academy Award nominee for Phantom Thread.
"Jocasta is not a major player in the Sophocles play," Manville said while speaking to the press following her win. "She's there, but it's mostly about the men. Robert Icke wanted her story to be equal to the story of Oedipus, so it's a much more meaty role than Sophocles gave her. The language, the words, utterly wrecked me every night. So thank God he wrote it so brilliantly."
Below, hear Tony winner Manville and the rest of the Oedipus cast discuss the revival on its Broadway opening night.
