Theatre News

Traverse & Dundee Rep Take Honours at CATS

On the same night as Broadway honoured its stars at the Tony Awards (See News, 14 June 2010), Scottish theatre royalty assembled in Edinburgh for the annual Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland.

Edinburgh’s
Traverse Theatre and Dundee Repertory Theatre, two of Scotland’s
leading building-based companies, emerged as the leaders at this
year’s ceremony, with the venues
taking home six out of the ten prizes between them.

The Traverse
Theatre, which received ten nominations in this year’s shortlists,
took Best New Play for the third year running and Best
Production for Ursula Rani Sarma’s The Dark
Things
, while Sian Thomas received the
award for Best Female Performance for her role in The
Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
.

Dundee Rep’s
The Elephant Man was successful in
three categories including Best Director for Jemima Levick,
an award for which she has received two previous nominations. Kevin
Lennon
took Best Male Performance for his role as John
Merrick in the same play, while Alex Lowde (set) and Colin
Grenfell
(lighting) were presented with the award for Best
Design– marking the fourth year in a row that Dundee Rep has
been successful in this category.

Nominated for the
first time, all-inclusive theatre company Lung Ha’s won the Best
Ensemble award for Huxley’s Lab,
a co-production with Grid Iron which ran as part of the Edinburgh
International Science Festival. The National Theatre of Scotland’s
Mr Write was named Best Production for
Children and Young People, a title that the company previously
won in 2006 for Home: East Lothian. Best
Technical Presentation went to Perth Theatre for Jane
Eyre
, while Alistair Macrae took the award
for Best Use of Music and Sound for The Government
Inspector
, a co-production by Communicado Theatre
Company
and the Tron Theatre.

Now in its eighth
year, the awards presentation took place on Sunday 13 June during a
glittering ceremony hosted by Jonathan Mills, director of the
Edinburgh International Festival, and much-loved actress and
comedienne Karen Dunbar, at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh.

Co-convenor, Mark
Fisher, said: “With such a strong line-up of nominations, the CATS
ceremony was sure to go with a swing and we were delighted with just
what a lively occasion it was. The only shame is that everyone
couldn’t be a winner, because there was so much talent in the room.
And we know that was just the tip of the iceberg in another great
year for theatre in Scotland.”

CATS Winners 2009-2010

Best Male Performance, sponsored by Guy Robertson Partnership: Kevin Lennon as John Merrick, The Elephant Man, Dundee Rep

Best Female Performance, sponsored by STV: Sian Thomas as Stevie, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Traverse Theatre

Best Ensemble: Huxley’s Lab, Grid Iron/Lung Ha’s

Best Director: Jemima Levick, The Elephant Man, Dundee Rep

Best Design:
Alex Lowde (set) and Colin Grenfell (lighting), The Elephant Man, Dundee Rep

Best Use of Music & Sound:
Alasdair Macrae, The Government Inspector, Tron Theatre/Communicado

Best Technical Presentation, sponsored by Northern Light:
Jane Eyre, Perth Theatre

Best Production for Children & Young People:
Mr Write, National Theatre of Scotland

Best New Play, sponsored by W&P Longreach:
Ursula Rani Sarma, The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre

Best Production:
The Dark Things, Traverse Theatre