The much anticipated Standard Bank Ovation Awards were
announced on the closing day (July 13) of the 2014 National Arts Festival in
Grahamstown.
Convenor of the Awards Panel, Adrienne Sichel, described the
work presented on the Fringe at this year’s Festival as ‘refreshingly diverse’.
“I was impressed with the diversity, and aesthetics within the works”, she
said, but warned artists to keep their honesty and to beware of
self-censorship.
“The Standard Bank Ovation Awards provide a valuable
incentive for artists on the Festival’s fringe programme to strive for
excellence, experiment with innovation and to challenge and shift the
boundaries of creativity”, said Ismail Mahomed, the Artistic Director of the
National Arts Festival.
This year, two Gold Ovation Awards were awarded. Wessel
Pretorius’s production Undone in the Theatre
genre was described as ‘breathtakingly inventive’. In the Music genre, Tumi
Mogorosi was awarded a Gold Ovation Award for Project Elo. This 2014 SAMA award nominee performed his debut jazz
album for the first time in Grahamstown.
Silver Ovation Awards for Theatre were presented to The Ballad of Dirk de Bruin, Whistle Stop, Miss
Ever’s Boys, What the Water Gave Me and Siembamba.
In the Music genre, Silver Ovations were awarded to Guy
Buttery and Gareth Gale and Trio with a Twist. Comedian Sne Dladla scooped a
Silver Ovation for his show The Jokes on
You.
In the Performance Art genre, Gavin Krastin’s provocative
performance in #Omnomnom won him a
Silver Ovation Award to add to his bouquet of Ovation Awards won in previous
years. Rat Western and Wesley Deintje also received a Silver Ovation for Machine for Living. Piet se Optelgoed received
a Silver Ovation in the Physical Theatre genre. In the Family Fare genre,
introduced for the first time at the Festival, a Silver Ovation was awarded to A Man Called Rolex.
Standard Bank Ovation Encore Awards which recognises merit
and potential in works that can be developed were presented to Robbie Collins
for That Bushman’s Crazy and to the
Durban-based Actors Unemployed Company for The
Erl King.
A Standard Bank Special Merit Ovation Award was awarded to Emsini. The Standard Bank New Voices
Ovation Award introduced this year to recognise sparks of gems on the fringe
was awarded to Giving Birth to my Father.
The Adelaide Tambo Award (a new award) for celebrating human
rights through the arts was awarded jointly to The Bram Fischer Waltz and Cold
Case: Revisiting Dulcie September.
The Standard Bank Standing Ovation Award was presented to
Thembi Mtshali-Jones for her illustrious career at the National Arts Festival
and in recognition of a lifetime of creative energy in South Africa’s cultural
life spanning over four decades.
The Festival’s Short Sharp Stories competition has seen the
publication of some of the best submissions in a book entitled Adults Only. The winner of this year’s
competition for the best story was awarded to Nick Mulgrew who won a Special
Merit Award in the journalism awards that were announced earlier at the
festival.
The SA Post Office reaffirmed their investment in the
development of a new generation of theatre professionals through their support
of the Student Theatre Festival. The South African Post Office Student Theatre
Awards will offer winners various levels of support to present productions at
next year’s Festival. A panel of advisors comprising Gez Casey, Peter Terry,
Warona Seane and Jacqueline Domisse recognised enormous potential amongst the 17
university productions that were presented at the Festival this year. The Award
for Best Student Theatre Writer was presented to Alex McCarthy and Callum
Tillbury for the University of Cape Town script Uhm. The Best Student Theatre Director Award was won by Gopala
Davies for the University of Pretoria production Barbe Bleue. The Award for Best Student Theatre Production was
presented to Rhodes University for Solo.
The Student Theatre Advisors’ Award for the Best Poster was presented to
University of Witwatersrand’s Maid in
Mzansi and the Festival’s Marketing Team’s Choice Award for Poster Design
was awarded Oakfield College’s poster for their production Flesh.
The PANSA New Writer’s Award supported by Africalia was
introduced this year to stimulate new writing on the Fringe. The three winners
of the New Writer’s Award are Wynne Bredenkamp for Salt, Ameera Patel for Whistle
Stop and Wiseman Ncube for Giving
Birth to my Father.
The Standard Bank Ovation Award panel comprised: Adrienne
Sichel, Ismail Mahomed, Lynette Marais, Tammy Ballantyne, Moira de Swardt,
Bridget van Oerle, Brooks Spector, Bruce Dennill, Kgomotso Moncho, Steve
Kretzmann, Juanita Praeg, Christina Kennedy, Robyn Sassen and World Fringe
Alliance representatives Anneke Jansen (Amsterdam Fringe) and Julian Caddy
(Brighton Fringe). Specialist music advisors were Michelle Constant and Tony
Lankester for contemporary music and Richard Cock for classical music.
The panel for the Adelaide Tambo Award were Ismail Mahomed,
Adrienne Sichel, Phyllis Klotz, Mandie van der Spuy, Brett Bailey and Elinor
Sisulu.
The panel for the
South African Post Office Student Theatre Awards were Peter Terry, Jaqueline
Domisse, Warona Seane and Gez Casey (Live Theatre : UK)
Posts
