TMA Nominations & Theatre Week Announced

Nominations for the Barclays Theatre Awards 1998, the only UK-wide theatre awards, were announced this week. The winners of the awards, presented by the Theatrical Management Assoication (TMA), will be announced 25 October 1998 in Norwich at a ceremony hosted by Philip Schofield, currently starring in the West End production of Doctor Dolittle.

This year's acting nominations range from the internationally famous (such as Kevin Spacey) to some of Britain's finest acting talents (Sinead Cusack, Geraldine McEwan) and several relative unknowns. The nominations across several categories also reflect some the UK's best new writing with plays such as Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart, Sebastian Barry's Our Lady of Sligo and Bryony Lavery's Frozen.

A new category has been added to the awards arcade this year - the Theatre of the Year Award. This award aims to recognise the achievements and innovations of venues across the country with particular reference to their wider role in the community. The areas focused on include programming, access and education initiatives and the development of new audiences.

The awards ceremony will be televised on Sunday, 1 November, kicking off the first Barclays Theatre Week, a nationwide celebration of regional theatre, developed in association with the TMA. The week, entitled 'See It Live - Barclays Theatre Week', will run from 2 to 8 November and will feature a ticket promotion offering two-for-one deals in more than 100 participating venues across the country, from the 1500-seat Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford to the 158-seat Paisley Arts Centre. A vast range of shows - classic drama, musicals, opera, comedy, new writing, dance and variety shows - will be covered by the promotion.

In addition, as part of the week, many theatres will host a spectrum of extra activities alongside their standard programming. Activities will vary from area to area and will include behind-the-scenes tours, wardrobe viewings, acting and writing workshops, platform debates and meet-the-stars sessions.

Nominations for the Barclays Theatre Awards 1998 are as follows.

BEST ACTRESS: Sinead Cusack for Our Lady of Sligo, an Out of Joint/ RNT co-production on tour; Anita Dobson for Frozen at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre; Geraldine McEwan for The Chairs, a Theatre de Complicite/ Royal Court co-production on tour.

BEST ACTOR: Frank Grimes for Afore Night Come at the Clwyd Theatr Cymru and the New Theatre, Cardiff; Roy Hanlon for Juno and Paycock at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast; Kevin Spacey for The Iceman Cometh, an Almeida Theatre production.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Katie Blake for English Touring Theatre's A Difficult Age on tour; Pauline Lockhart for An Experiment with an Air Pump by the Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Manchester; Sally Mates for Roots, an Oxford Stage/ Palace Theatre Watford co-production on tour.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Bryan Carney in Love! Valour! Compassion! at the Library Theatre, Manchester; Tim Piggott-Smith for The Iceman Cometh; Tom Smith for Present Laughter, Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Manchester.

BEST DIRECTOR: Bill Alexander for Frozen; Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott for Shockheaded Peter, a Cultural Industry Project produced in collaboration with West Yorkshire Playhouse and Lyric Theatre Hammersmith; Max Stafford-Clark for Blue Heart, an Out of Joint/ Royal Court co-production on tour.

BEST DESIGNER: Robert Jones for the RSC's Henry VIII at Newcastle Playhouse and Plymouth Pavilions and Proposals at West Yorkshire Playhouse; Tim Shortall for Roots; Neil Warmington for Jane Eyre, Shared Experience Theatre in association with the Wolsey Theatre Ipswich and the Young Vic on tour.

BEST NEW PLAY: An Experiment with an Air Pump by Shelagh Stephenson, Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Manchester; Frozen by Bryony Lavery; Ursula Fear of the Estuary by Howard Barker in a Birmingham Repertory/ Theatre Royal Plymouth co-production. BEST MUSICAL: Cabaret produced for the Broadway stage by Harold Prince, at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor; Oh What a Lovely War by Joan Littlewood, produced by the RNT on tour; Spend Spend Spend by Steve Brown and Justin Greene, from the book by Viv Nicholson and Stephen Smith at West Yorkshire Playhouse.

BEST TOURING PRODUCTION: Clyde Unity Theatre's Albertine in Five Times by Michael Tremblay; Blue Heart by Caryl Churchill; Sphinx Theatre Company's The Snow Palace by Pam Gems.

BEST SHOW FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE: Hansel and Gretel by Stuart Paterson, Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, Manchester; Oxford Stage Company's Junk by Melvyn Burgess, adapted by John Retallack; Travelling Light's Tir Na N-og by Greg Banks on tour.

MOST WELCOMING THEATRE: Buxton Opera House; Grand Opera House, Belfast; Theatr Gogledd Cymru (North Wales Theatre Llandudno).

THEATRE OF THE YEAR: Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Salisbury Playhouse.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA: The creative team of Opera North's Julietta; Scottish Opera for mounting the second British production of Snatched by the Gods and Broken Strings by Param Vir; Welsh National Opera for Billy Budd and The Coronation of Poppea.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE: David Bintley for the choreography of Edward II, for mounting the Balanchine bill and for reviving Dame Ninette de Valois' The Prospect Before Us for Birmingham Royal Ballet; Christopher Bruce for his direction of Rambert Dance Company; Tamara Rojo for her performances with English National Ballet.

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