The Naledi Theatre awards nominations announcement was
slightly delayed this year, according to the Naledi CEO Dawn Lindberg. “As
usual funding has been an issue; however, in true showbiz fashion, The Show
Must Go On!” Despite the nominations and awards being later in the year, the nominations
were made public at the new Ramolao Makhene Theatre at the Market Theatre
precinct on May 14. The gala awards evening will take place on June 18, 2018,
and the events team are currently busy finalising the venue.
The theatre world has been buzzing with anticipation, and as
usual the Naledi Awards are one of the highlights of the showbiz year. Ranging
across all the disciplines of theatre, the Naledis are coveted by performers,
designers, the production teams and staging crews. As the largest theatre
awards in South Africa, a nomination by the Naledi judges is in itself an
achievement. The main panel judges are obliged to see the majority of the
productions that qualify, which broadly speaking are professional productions
with more than ten concurrent performances. There is also a second panel of
judges that looks at youth performances, known as the Assitej Nominations.
The 2017 year was a very busy one for theatre with an
extraordinary amount of new talent, works and sheer entertainment on display.
Nominations for Best Musical for the year include the
revival of the famed South African musical classics King Kong (Eric Abraham and the Fugard Theatre Productions) and Sarafina (Committed Artist Productions
in association with the South African State Theatre), the iconic Priscilla Queen of the Desert (produced
by Hazel Feldman, Showtime Management, Lunchbox Theatrical Productions &
Nullabor Productions in association with MGM ON STAGE), Evita (Pieter Toerien and David Ian) and West Side Story (Eric Abraham and The Fugard Theatre Productions).
The nominations for the “Best Director of a Musical or a
Review” go to Elizma Badenhorst for Rock of Ages (produced by Gold Reef City,
executive produced by VR Theatrical, written by Chris D'Arienzo), Jonathan
Munby for King Kong and Dr Mbongeni Ngema for Sarafina. Matthew Wild has
been nominated for his direction of West Side Story.
“Best lead performance in a Musical or Review/Male”
nominations go to Andile Gumbi (as King Kong) in King Kong, David Dennis (as
Bernadette) for Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Jonathan Roxmouth (as Che) in Evita, Phillip Schnetler (as Adam/Felicia) in Priscilla Queen of the Desert
and Sne Dladla (as Pop) in King Kong.
Nominations for “Best lead performance in a Musical or
Review/Female” go to Claire Taylor (as Sherrie) in Rock of Ages, Emma Kingston (as Eva Peron) in Evita, Lynelle Kenned (as Maria) in West Side Story, Nondumiso Tembe (as Joyce) in King Kong and Noxolo Dlamini (as Sarafina) in Sarafina.
The Inconvenience of
Wings (Lara Foot and The Baxter Theatre Centre in association with the
Market Theatre), When Swallows Cry
(The Market Theatre), Die Reuk van Appels
(The SA State Theatre in association with Theatrerocket), The Suitcase (The Market Theatre), Tamasha on Hope Street (The Market Theatre) and Moliere’s Tartuffe (The Fortune Cookie
Theatre Company in collaboration with the French Institute of South Africa and
the Alliance Francaise in South Africa, amply supplied us with the nominations
for the Best Play.
Best Director of a play nominations: Andre Odendaal for Karel Se Oupa (produced by the Market
Theatre in association with Kosie Smit, written by Retief Scholtz), Lara Bye
for Die Reuk van Appels, and Lara
Foot for The Inconvenience of Wings.
Lesedi Job is nominated for her direction of When Swallows Cry and Sylvaine Strike has been nominated for Moliere’s Tartuffe.
“Best performer in a play/Female” nominations go to Ameera
Patel for Tamasha on Hope Street,
Carly Graeme for Betrayal (produced
by Daphne Kuhn by arrangement with Judy Daish Associates Limited and F Pinter
Limited, written by Harold Pinter), Chi Mende for Chasing Chairs (produced by The Market Theatre, written by Sue
Pam-Grant and DJ Grant), Jennifer Steyn for The
Inconvenience of Wings, Masasa Lindiwe Mbangeni for The Suitcase and Vanessa Cooke for Moliere’s Tartuffe.
The nominations for the “Best performer in a play/Male” go
to Andrew Buckland for The Inconvenience
of Wings, Christiaan Schoombie for When
Swallows Cry, Craig Morris for Moliere’s
Tartuffe, Graeme Hopkins for Freud’s
last Session (produced by Daphne Kuhn by arrangement with DALRO, written by
Mark St Germain), Lindani Nkosi for Tamasha
on Hope Street and Mpho Osei-Tutu for When
Swallows Cry.
As part of the Naledi mandate to grow the industry and
identify upcoming performers is the coveted “Best Newcomer/Breakthrough
Performance” Award. This award is given to those new rising stars in the
industry. This year Ian Roelofs (Karel se
Oupa), Isabella Jane (Evita),
Kanyi Nokwe (Pinocchio the Pantomime),
Noxolo Dlamini (Sarafina) and Phillip
Schnetler (Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
have been nominated.
One of the most exciting awards is given to the “Best New
South African Script” which encourages and fosters new and uniquely South
African scripts and playwrights. This year, nominations go to Johann Smith for Die Reuk van Appels, Retief Scholtz for Karel se Oupa, Rajesh Gopie for Tamasha on Hope Street, Lara Foot for The Inconvenience of Wings and Mike van
Graan for When Swallows Cry.
“There are many strong contenders for the Awards this year,”
says Dawn Lindberg, “and the nominations debate was a robust one, but it has
reflected the quality of the productions presented and the true non-partisan
nature of the board in their deliberations.”
Naledi is proud to introduce the new Board of Directors for
2018: Patron: Dr John Kani; Chairperson: Kgomotso Christopher; Deputy Chair:
Sello Maake Ka Ncube and Maishe Maponya; Executive Director and Legal: Lihan
Pretorius; Directors: Mbongeni Ngema, Thuli Sithole, Hemant Vanmali, Des
Lindberg; Founder and CEO: Dawn Lindberg.
For a comprehensive list of all the nominations and news of
the Naledis visit www.naleditheatreawards.com
Posts
