Theatre awards time is upon us again - the 11th
annual awards evening of The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards takes place on December
9 at 19h30 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, UKZN, when the best of Durban
theatre will be acknowledged and celebrated.
And although it is not quite the Oscar’s
red carpet – it is still traditionally an occasion to dress up, put on your
shiny shoes and mingle with the city’s most applauded performers.
The awards consider only those productions
originating in Durban and presented during the period October 1, 2012, to September
30, 2013. These productions represent the genres of drama and comedy, musical
theatre, music revue / cabaret, and children’s theatre. There are 28
productions vying for honours at this year’s awards ceremony.
This year’s ceremony will be hosted by
radio, television and media personality, Terence Pillay, and promises to be a
sophisticated and glamorous celebration of our local theatre industry. As
Monday night is a “night-off” for the theatre industry in Durban, the audience
can expect to brush shoulders with the who’s who of Durban’s theatre
fraternity. The evening will include excerpts from productions being presented
in Durban throughout the festive season offering the audience a glimpse of what
will be on offer this festive season.
There is also a participative element ahead
of time – the public is invited to vote for their favourite Durban Theatre
Personality of the year from 12 nominees and your vote will put that person in line
to win this year’s Mercury Durban Theatre Personality of the Year Award. The
nominees are: Lisa Bobbert; Rory Booth; Lyle Buxton; Liesl Coppin; Peter Court;
Bryan Hiles; Marc Kay; Faca Kulu; Shelley McLean; Babuyile Shabalala; Daisy
Spencer and Charon Williams Ros.
Send your email vote to snethemba.hlela@inl.co.za by
midnight on December 3. Note that only one vote per e-mail address will be
permitted. In the e-mail subject field,
the words “Theatre Personality”, followed by the name (in capital letters) of
the person who gets your vote. Also, in the main body of your e-mail, please
include your own name, surname, contact number and residential address.
The winner of the personality award will be
named at the annual Mercury Durban theatre Awards ceremony at the Elizabeth
Sneddon Theatre at 19h30 on December 9.
The Mercury Durban Theatre Awards is
grateful for the generosity of its sponsors and partners supporting this year’s
awards ceremony, most of whom have the supported the awards over the past 11 years. Without such support this 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, the Monica Fairall Memorial Trust, ClaviTech, artSMart,
Val Adamson Photography and Sunshine Factory.
Supporting this award system since its
inception in 2003 is 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.
Tickets cost R80 each at Computicket
outlets / by calling / 0861 915 8000.
Posts
