THEATRE AWARD NOMINEES

The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards will take place on November 21 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre and considers productions originating in Durban and presented during the period October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011.

The nominees are as follows:

POSTER DESIGN: Shirley Berko (Cabaret; The God of Carnage); Shirley Berko & Greg King (I love you, you’re perfect, now change; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood), and Greg King (Peter Pan).

SOUND DESIGN: Megan Levy (Cabaret, I love you, you’re perfect, now change; Peter Pan; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood)

LIGHTING DESIGN: Michael Broderick (The Happy Clapper) and Tina le Roux (Cabaret; The God of Carnage; I love you, you’re perfect, now change; Peter Pan; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood)

COSTUME DESIGN: Greg King & Steven Stead (I love you, you’re perfect, now change; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood); Anthony Stonier (Peter Pan) and Neil Stuart-Harris (Cabaret)

SET DESIGN: Greg King (Cabaret; The God of Carnage; I love you, you’re perfect now change; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood) and the late Hugo le Roux (The Coolie Odyssey)

NEW PERFORMER – FEMALE: Aveshnee Maistry (The Coolie Odyssey) and Jessica Sole (I love you, you’re perfect, now change).

NEW PERFORMER – MALE: Nhlakanipho Manqele and Thiru Moodley (The Coolie Odyssey) and Menzi Mkhwane (Belly of the Beast)



CHILDREN’S THEATRE,
There were no nominations for Supporting Actress or Supporting Actor.

CHILDREN’S THEATRE, LEAD ACTRESS: Shika Budhoo (The Fantastical Flea Circus) and Kerry Cherry (Noah and The Ark)

CHILDREN’S THEATRE, LEAD ACTOR: Dhaveshan Govender (The Fantastical Flea Circus) and Jaziel Vaugh’hann (Noah and The Ark)

CHILDREN’S THEATRE. DIRECTOR: Clinton Marius (The Fantastical Flea Circus) and Jaziel Vaugh’hann (Noah and The Ark)

CHILDREN’S THEATRE, PRODUCTION: The Fantastical Flea Circus (Catalina UnLtd) and Noah and the Ark (The Rhumbelow Theatre)



MUSICAL THEATRE & MUSIC REVUE / MUSIC COMPILATION / CABARET
CHOREOGRAPHY: Janine Bennewith (Cabaret); Janna Ramos-Violante (I love you, you’re perfect, now change; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood), and Daisy Spencer (Peter Pan)


PERFORMER: MUSIC REVUE / MUSIC COMPILATION / CABARET
Lisa Bobbert (A Wink and a Smile); Thomie Holtzhausen (Peter Pan); Evan Roberts (A Wink and a Smile); Daisy Spencer (Peter Pan), and Anthony Stonier (Peter Pan; A Wink and a Smile)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: MUSICAL THEATRE: Liesl Coppin (Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood); Clare Mortimer (Cabaret) and Charon Williams-Ros (Cabaret)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: MUSICAL THEATRE: Lyle Buxton (Cabaret); Peter Court: (Cabaret; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood), and Farai Gwaze and Bryan Hiles (Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood)

LEAD ACTRESS: MUSICAL THEATRE: Lisa Bobbert (Cabaret; I love you, you’re perfect, now change); Londiwe Dhlomo: (Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood), and Jessica Sole I love you, you’re perfect, now change)

LEAD ACTOR: MUSICAL THEATRE: Lyle Buxton, Darren King and Iain Ewok Robinson (Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood); Sascha Halbhuber and Bryan Hiles (Cabaret), and Steven Stead and Roland Perold (I love you, you’re perfect, now change).

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Shelley MacLean and Evan Roberts (Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood); Shemual Mahabeer (Juliet and the Romeos); Evan Roberts & Justin Southey (Cabaret); Justin Southey (I love you, you’re perfect, now change), and Anthony Stonier (Peter Pan).

DIRECTOR: Darren King (Peter Pan); Greg King (I love you, you’re perfect, now change); Steven Stead (Cabaret; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood), and Charon Williams-Ros (Juliet and the Romeos)

MUSIC REVUE PRODUCTION: Carnival Time (Williams-Ros Agency); Juliet and the Romeos (Catalina UnLtd); Peter Pan (Sue Clarence Promotions), and A Wink and a Smile (Sue Clarence Promotions)

MUSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTION: Cabaret (KickstArt); I love you, you’re perfect, now change (KickstArt), and Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood (KickstArt)



DRAMA / COMEDY
There were no nominations for Supporting Actress.

SCRIPT: Shika Budhoo (Shika-Land!); Yusuf Haffejee (Bittersweet); Darren King (Peter Pan); Liam Magner & Jacobus van Heerden (Tokoloshe come again!); Clinton Marius (The Fantastical Flea Circus); Vusi Mazibuko (A Plague of Heroes), and Steven Stead (Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Rory Booth (Spice ‘n Stuff); Faca Kulu (Saturday Night at the Palace), and Nhlakanipho Manqele and Vishendra Sing (The Coolie Odyssey).

COMEDIC PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE: Clare Mortimer and Jailoshini Naidoo (The God of Carnage)

COMEDIC PERFORMANCE BY A MALE: Liam Magner and Jacobus van Heerden (Tokoloshe come again!); Aaron McIlroy (The Happy Clapper), and Iain Ewok Robinson and Tim Wells: (The God of Carnage)

SOLO PERFORMANCE: Shika Budhoo (Shika-Land!); Grant Jacobs (Paperboy); Aaron McIlroy (The Happy Clapper), and Thami Mbongo (A Plague of Heroes)

LEAD ACTRESS: Shika Budhoo (Shika-Land! and Spice ‘n Stuff); Aveshnee Maistry (The Coolie Odyssey), and Clare Mortimer and Jailoshini Naidoo (The God of Carnage)

LEAD ACTOR: The ensemble cast of Asinamali is nominated in this category: Vukani Dlamini; Bongani Hlope; Brian Mazibuko; Bhoyi Ngema, and Nhlanhla Ngema. Other nominees are Michael Gritten (Saturday Night at the Palace); Liam Magner and Jacobus van Heerden (Tokoloshe come again!); Iain Ewok Robinson and Tim Wells (The God of Carnage), and Clinton Small (Saturday Night at the Palace)

DIRECTOR: Rajesh Gopie (The Coolie Odyssey); Liam Magner & Jacobus van Heerden (Tokoloshe come again!); Bheki Mkhwane (Sitting Around The Fire); Mbongeni Ngema (Asinamali), and Steven Stead (The God of Carnage)

PRODUCTION: Asinamali (The Playhouse Company); The Coolie Odyssey (Rajesh Gopie & Rajesh Gopie in association with The Playhouse Company); The God of Carnage (KicksArt); Sitting Around the Fire (Just in Time Productions), and Tokoloshe come again! (Neon Anthems)

The Monica Fairall Memorial Award, the Judges Award and The Mercury Durban Theatre Personality of the Year Award Floating Trophy will be announced on the night.

This year’s ceremony of The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards will take place on November 21 at 19h30 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre and is open to the public. Featuring excerpts from Christmas shows to be seen in Durban, it will again be hosted by Jailoshini Naidoo (Eastern Mosaic).

The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards is grateful for the generosity of its sponsors and partners in supporting this year’s awards ceremony. Without this support the event would not take place.

Principal sponsors are media partner The Mercury, the Bartel Arts Trust, the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, Troubadour Productions, DarkHorse Productions, Black Coffee Design, Stuart Edwards & Company, Publicity Matters, Makulu Events, Monica Fairall Memorial Trust, ClaviTech, artSMart, Val Adamson Photography and Sunshine Factory.

Several organisations have supported the awards since its inception in 2003, most notably the Bartel Arts Trust. This trust was established in 1992 through a bequest of the late Hugo Bartel, a wealthy industrialist with a passion for the arts. The trust sponsors community arts projects, artists, arts projects and student bursaries. The trust established the BAT Centre in 1996 which became a hub of the performing and visual arts in Durban. The BAT Centre was subsequently donated to the BAT Centre Trust. In addition to the theatre awards the trust currently sponsors the Durban Music School, DUT Department of Fine Art, the Phansi Museum and several student bursaries.

These awards evenings always offer a sophisticated and glamorous celebration. As Monday is traditionally a “night-off” for performers, audiences can expect to rub shoulders with the “Who’s Who” of the Durban theatre industry. Tickets R80 booked through Computicket.

For more information, click on the button advert at the top of this page.