ACCORDING to Scotland’s leading theatre critics, Edinburgh theatre, The Traverse, has been home to some of the best productions in the country recently – following the unveiling of their Scottish theatre awards shortlist.
The Traverse has been nominated ten times in six out of ten categories – such as Best director and Best new play – by critics including The Scotsman’s Joyce McMillan and The Guardian’s Mark Fisher.
Although theatre companies in Edinburgh and Glasgow dominate the shortlist, it has also been a good year for Dundee Repertory Theatre, with six nominations, while Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Perth Theatre and Fife Arts Trust each appear in at least one category.
Says Fisher: “It has been a bumper year for great theatre in Scotland and we were spoilt for choice when it came to making our selections. It means the 2010 shortlists represent a truly impressive range of talent, whether it is the most intimate one-person show or, as is the case with Huxley’s Lab, a production with a cast of 30.”
Now in its eighth year, the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) has become a highlight of the theatrical calendar in Scotland, celebrating the actors, directors, playwrights and other artists who have made the most thrilling contributions to the industry over the past 12 months.
The critics involved in compiling this year’s shortlist are: Mary Brennan (The Herald), Mark Brown (The Sunday Herald and the Daily Telegraph), Neil Cooper (The Herald), Michael Cox (onstagescotland.co.uk), Shona Craven (onstagescotland.co.uk), Robert Dawson Scott (The Times), Thom Dibdin (Edinburgh Evening News and The Stage), Mark Fisher (The Guardian), Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman), Gareth K Vile (The Skinny) and Joy Watters (The Courier).
The winners will be announced at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh on the 13th of next month, at an event open to the public.
For ticket information, click here.
The shortlist:
BEST ACTOR (MALE), sponsored by Guy Robertson Partnership
John Bett as the Governor, The Government Inspector, Communicado/Tron Theatre
Brian Ferguson as Daniel, The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre
Kevin Lennon as John Merrick, The Elephant Man, Dundee Rep
Jimmy Yuill, Testament Of Cresseid, Edinburgh International Festival
BEST ACTOR (FEMALE)
Suzanne Donaldson as LJ, The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre
Suzie Ferguson, Sick, Theatre Modo
Cara Kelly as Maureen Folan, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Royal Lyceum
Sian Thomas as Stevie, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Traverse Theatre
BEST ENSEMBLE
A Christmas Carol, Dundee Rep
The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME, Sorcha Dallas, The Work Room, Tramway, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art
The Government Inspector, Communicado/Tron Theatre
Huxley’s Lab, Grid Iron/Lung Ha’s
BEST DIRECTOR
Ken Alexander, Whisky Galore, Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Dominic Hill, The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre
Dominic Hill, The Goat, Traverse Theatre
Jemima Levick, Elephant Man, Dundee Rep
BEST DESIGN
Kai Fischer (set and lighting) and Finn Ross (projection and video design), The Beggar’s Opera, Royal Lyceum, Vanishing Point and Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in association with Tramway
Alex Lowde (set) and Colin Grenfell (lighting), The Elephant Man, Dundee Rep
Jason Southgate (set) and Graham Sutherland (lighting), Cinderella, Citizens Theatre
Neil Warmington (set) and Lizzie Powell (lighting), The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre
BEST USE OF MUSIC AND SOUND
Jon Beales, Shona McKee McNeil, Ian Hammond Brown and the company, Whisky Galore, Pitlochry Festival Theatre
David Paul Jones, The Songbird, Giant
Alasdair Macrae, The Government Inspector, Communicado/Tron Theatre
Stuart McCallum, The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME, Sorcha Dallas, The Work Room, Tramway, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art
BEST TECHNICAL PRESENTATION, sponsored by Northern Light
Bright Black, Vox Motus (in association with Platform and supported by Cumbernauld Theatre and Fife Arts Trust)
A Christmas Carol, Dundee Rep
Jane Eyre, Perth Theatre
Mr Write, National Theatre of Scotland
BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Cinderella, Citizens Theatre
Mr Write, National Theatre of Scotland
Pobby and Dingan, Catherine Wheels
The Songbird, Giant
BEST NEW PLAY, sponsored by W&P Longreach
Alan Bissett, Turbo Folk, A Play, a Pie and a Pint
Kieran Hurley, Hitch (Full Version), The Arches
Dennis Kelly, Orphans, Traverse Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre in association with Paines Plough
Ursula Rani Sarma, The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre
BEST PRODUCTION
A Christmas Carol, Dundee Rep
The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Traverse Theatre
The Government Inspector, Communicado/Tron Theatre
