The Theatre Award winners

Sam Mendes's final flourish as director of the Donmar Warehouse - a double production of Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night - earned the theatre two Evening Standard Theatre Awards this afternoon.

The productions' Simon Russell Beale scooped the best actor award, presented by Juliet Stevenson. Russell Beale's majestic performances as Chekhov's Vanya and Shakespeare's Malvolio was acclaimed by theatre critics including the Evening Standard's Nicholas de Jongh, who called his performance "material for any book of choice theatrical memories".

Mendes himself won The Sydney Edwards Award for best director thanks to the two productions, his last at the Donmar Warehouse after a decade as its artistic director. Mr de Jongh described his Uncle Vanya as "a genuine revelation".

The director, who is reportedly considering moving from London to New York once his tenure in charge of the Donmar is complete, accepted his award from another star British director, Stephen Daldry, at the ceremony at the Savoy.

The guests included Jerry Hall, Samantha Bond, Charles Dance, Penelope Wilton, Sheila Hancock, Felicity Kendal, Joanna Riding, Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Sir Donald Sinden.

The audience heard Evening Standard editor Veronica Wadley open the 48th Evening Standard Theatre Awards with a speech praising some of 2002's theatrical highlights. Veronica Wadley remarked on how much the landscape of London's theatreland has changed since the first Evening Standard Theatre Awards, saying: "Fifty years ago there was no National Theatre, no Royal Shakespeare Company, no Almeida, no Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Court had nothing much upstairs - I refer to the existence of its excellent studio theatre. Government support for the theatre was in its relative infancy."

She paid tribute to Sir Tom Stoppard's remarkable trilogy The Coast Of Utopia at the National Theatre, as well as its new Loft and redesigned Lyttelton theatres, part of the NT's groundbreaking Transformations Season.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's The Lieutenant Of Inishmore and A Russian In The Woods were also praised, as well as the appearance together of Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in The Breath Of Life.

Before handing over to the master of ceremonies, Rory Bremner, she added: "We, at the Evening Standard, understand the tremendous problems facing the theatre today. And we try to do our best to support you in our arts excellence coverage. British culture depends on innovation and excellence in the theatre - and we look to you to meet that challenge."

The award for best play was won by Caryl Churchill's A Number at the Royal Court, which was praised by Nicholas de Jongh as "the first true play of the 21st century".

He added: "It's an hour-long experiment in prediction, a meditation upon identity, a sort of nightmare imagining of what the magic of science, in relation to cloning, may one day require of our hearts and minds."

Clare Higgins beat competition from Gwyneth Paltrow and Helen McCrory to take the best actress award, presented by John Hurt, for her portrayal of Ursula in the National Theatre's Vincent In Brixton. Higgins's character is romanced by her lodger, Vincent Van Gogh. Mr de Jongh said of her performance: "There's no scene more beautiful or affecting on the London stage than this unusual wooing."

Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal - star of the film Donnie Darko - won the outstanding newcomer award thanks to his brilliant performance in This Is Our Youth. Gyllenhaal, who flew into London for today's ceremony, was presented with his trophy by another American star, Gillian Anderson - who faces the critics in her debut West End Performance later this week.

Mark Rylance accepted rarely-given Special Award for Shakespeare's Globe from Sir Richard Eyre. Since it opened on Bankside in 1996, the Globe, a timber recreation of an Elizabethan playhouse, has emerged as both an important, innovative new centre of Shakespeare's works and a thriving, popular destination for Londoners and tourists alike.

The consistently excellent Ian MacNeil scooped the best stage designer award for two brilliant sets at the Royal Court, for A Number and for debut offering Plasticine.

Plasticine, by young Russian Vassily Sig arev, won the Charles Wintour Award for most promising playwright. Established in memory of Mr Wintour, the former Standard editor and a passionate supporter of the theatre, this award brings more than kudos. It comes with £30,000, half donated by his daughter Anna Wintour and half by Lord Rothermere, chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc, publisher of the Evening Standard.

In what has been a feast of a year for lovers of musicals, the Broadway import The Full Monty triumphed in the Carlton Television best musical award, despite competition from Bombay Dreams and My One And Only.

Paul O'Grady, star of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, presented the award to The Full Monty, which was described by Mr de Jongh as "unalloyed fun".

The ceremony will be shown by Carlton TV on Thursday at 11.30pm