(Dawn Lindberg)
Naledi Theatre
Awards founder and Executive Producer, Dawn Lindberg has been presented with
the Women: The Real Architects of Society Awards (WRASA) Drama Excellence Award
to acknowledge and honour her 51 years in theatre and show business.
Lindberg, who
staged the 12th annual Naledi Theatre Awards in April this year, says she is
deeply honoured by this recognition, especially considering the calibre of
women who filled the Theatre on the Track at Kyalami on August 20.
“Architects design
and create environments in which societies can flourish and grow,” she says,
“in the theatre, directors, designers and performers create magical spaces where
our stories can be told, and many of our theatre architects are women.
”Women have always
been the nurturers and the visionaries, but historically have been forced into
stereotypes and ‘pretty woman’ images,” she adds. “Now more and more women are
smashing through glass ceilings to take their place as the movers and shakers
of our society. For me, the woman at the forefront of challenging these
stereotypes is our Olympic Gold medallist, Caster Semenya. For me, she
epitomises fearless courage and talent, and awareness of who she is; a woman
athlete and a true architect of women in sport!”
The Drama
Excellence Award, which Lindberg clinched, is presented to a woman who has made
a significant contribution to Performing Arts in drama, the Creative Arts and
Theatre.
As a voice of
liberation since 1965, Lindberg’s contributions to society, theatre and music
are legion. She and her husband, Des, challenged the apartheid government
censorship laws many times over when their records, shows and non-racial casts
were banned; putting their careers on the line time and again.
The Lindbergs
spearheaded the opening of theatres to all races with their production of Godspell in 1978, and over the past 51
years they have made 15 albums and CDs, toured South African and Zimbabwe, reached
the top of the charts with The Seagull’s
Name was Nelson, produced 10 musicals and 10 plays including The Vagina Monologues, while Lindberg
has conceived and has produced the Naledi Theatre Awards for the past 12 years.
“The Naledi Theatre
Awards holds a mirror to the very best of creative work on our SA stages,” she
says. “Theatre tells the stories of our dynamically changing society: vigorous,
articulate, sometimes angry, but always passionate and vitally alive.”
Lindberg was also
nominated in the pinnacle category, Icon of the Year, at Saturday’s Awards
show. Although she did not win it, the nomination acknowledges Lindberg as a
woman who has successfully combined her roles as a leader in theatre and the
arts, an independent producer, a person of integrity and passion, while also
being a wife and mother … a woman who knows that that every day is an opening
night
Named together with
her husband as ‘Living Legends’ by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi
Mthethwa, and dubbed ‘Stars of Their Community’ by The Star newspaper. Lindberg
has also been nominated as a Top Woman Achiever and was a finalist for Mrs
South Africa.
The Naledi Theatre Awards has honoured over 60
Lifetime Achievers: veteran artistes, technicians, and administrators who have
dedicated their lives to South African Theatre, and also pays tribute to people
in the Arts who have taken their final bows during the year under review.
Catch the last
Naledia Awards on September 4 at 14h30 on kykNET, Channel 144 on DStv.
For more
information, visit www.naleditheatreawards.org.za
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