QUICK TAKES - March 10, 2009

Shows about French drag artistes and Scottish soldiers took top honors at the Laurence Olivier Awards recognizing the best of the London stage.

The sequin-spangled “La Cage aux Folles” won the prize for best musical revival. Douglas Hodge was named best actor in a musical for his performance as high-stepping transvestite Albin in the show, set in a French Riviera nightclub.

“Black Watch,” Gregory Burke’s powerfully physical play about a Scottish regiment’s experiences in Iraq, took four prizes at the event Sunday night, including best new play and best director, for John Tiffany.

The Olivier Awards, Britain’s equivalent of Broadway’s Tonys, honor achievements in London theater, musicals, dance and opera.

Derek Jacobi was named best actor in a play for his Malvolio in the Donmar Warehouse production of “Twelfth Night.”

Patrick Stewart, who was nominated for a Tony Award last year for “Macbeth,” took the supporting actor prize as Claudius in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Hamlet.” It was his third Olivier in a career that has ranged from Shakespeare to “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”