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The winners – Naledi Theatre Awards 2010 The 8th Naledi Theatre Awards took place at the gracious Lyric theatre in Gold Reef City last night. The foyer was awash with excitement and glamour as theatre industry luminaries showed up in their numbers, to either receive accolades or show support to those who were in the awards limelight. The Naledi’s have had their share of drama and controversy in the past, but this year’s event went off without a hitch or anyone throwing toys, and was the most spectacular and enthusiastic to date. The MC, Nik Rabinowitz, kept the show rolling along and the audience happy, and the presenters roster glittered with celebrities. The Naledi Chairman, Dali Tambo, and Executive Director, Dawn Lindberg, also lent their presence to the proceedings. Top-drawer entertainment was provided by the multi-Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, the Bala Brothers, PJ Powers, Alan Committie and the quartet Complete (from Songs of Migration). Angela Kilian, who’s currently playing the title role in Evita at the Pieter Toerien Theatre, almost brought the house down with her rendition of that musical’s showstopping number, “Don’t Cry for Me, Angentina”. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to “SA’s most famous white woman”, Evita Bezuidenhout, for her witty, refreshing and fearless observations of the social fabric of our country over the past 30 years, whilst the Executive Director’s Award was similarly given for three decades of service - to Lefra Productions, for their promotion of Afrikaans Theatre. Thanks to funding from the Lottery Distribution Board (for the first time this year), as well as the participation of regular corporate sponsors, Wharfedale Pro, Matrix Sound, Distell, and Chauvet Lighting, and individual sponsors, Christopher Seabrooke and Percy Tucker, this has been the most lavish and entertaining Naledi Awards evening to date. The Naledi judges, amongst whose number are theatre and television personalities, arts journalists, and drama teachers and academics, have spent weeks discussing and debating the various nominees, and - as usual - it hadn’t been the easiest task to come up with one winner in each category. But come up with winners they did, and last night was the turn of the victors to claim their laurels and bask in the fanfare. The Winners: BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (The Joan Brickhill Award) Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke Evita - a Pieter Toerien production directed by Paul Warwick Griffin. BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY Death of a Colonialist, produced by The Market Theatre, written by Greg Latter and directed by Craig Freimond. BEST NEW SOUTH AFRICAN PLAY OR MUSICAL PRODUCED The Girl in the Yellow Dress, produced by The Market Theatre (Johannesburg), Live Theatre (Newcastle) and The Citizen's Theatre (Glasglow). Directed by Malcolm Purkey and written by Craig Higginson. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE (PLAY) Jamie Barlett, for his portrayal of the veteran teacher Harold Smith in Death of a Colonialist. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE (PLAY) Marianne Oldham, as the English coach in The Girl in the Yellow Dress. BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL (MALE) Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke James Borthwick, for his portrayal of Juan Peron in Evita. BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL (FEMALE) Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke Angela Kilian, for the title role in Evita. BEST CUTTING-EDGE PRODUCTION Butcher Brothers - Presented by The Market Theatre, originally produced by Dark Laugh and supported by Wits 969 2010 and a part of Arts Alive 2010. Directed by Sylvaine Strike. BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL Sponsored by Percy Tucker Craig Freimond - for Death of a Colonialist. BEST COMEDY PERFORMANCE (PLAY, MUSICAL OR REVUE) Matthew Ribnick - for his performance in Geraldine Naidoo's Monkey Nuts. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE/CAMEO Nat Ramabulana - for his contribution to Master Harold and the Boys. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE/CAMEO Kate Normington - for her contribution to Mamma Mia! BEST MUSICAL DIRECTOR/SCORE/ARRANGEMENT Sponsored by Matrix Sound Charl-Johan Lingenfelder and Louis Zurnamer (MD) - for Evita. BEST ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHY David Gouldie - for Evita. BEST PERFORMANCE BY A NEWCOMER / BREAKTHROUGH The Brett Goldin Award Khaya Maseko - for his contribution to African Tapestries. BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL FOR CHILDREN Beautiful Creatures - Produced by Ed Jordan and Alan Glass, in association with Showtime Management. Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin. BEST THEATRE LIGHTING DESIGN Sponsored by Chauvet Jannie Swanepoel and Gareth Hewitt Williams - for Evita. BEST COSTUME DESIGN Penny Simpson - for Evita. BEST THEATRE SET DESIGN Johan Engels - for The Boys in the Photograph. BEST THEATRE SOUND DESIGN Sponsored by Wharfedale Pro Freddy Malesa - for Songs of Migration. BEST COMMUNITY THEATRE PRODUCTION The award was shared between: Awaiting Trial by Movers Theatre Production; directed by Velaphi Mthimkhulu. and We Can, This is our Home presented by SANCTA One Act Festival in Mpumalanga; directed by Mandla Sibaya. Media Queries: Bridget van Oerle / Christabel Zulu BUZ Publicity 011 482 3467/3489 083 263 6991 FAX 011 388 4404 christabel@buz.co.za Naledi Theatre Awards Winners |
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