Previous CATS winners include David Tennant

The shortlist for the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) have been announced, with the winners announced on Sunday 13th June at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh’s own Traverse Theatre leads the field, with ten nominations across six out of a possible ten categories for the awards, which have been going since 2003.

For the first time the shortlist also includes a show rooted in the visual arts as much as in theatre with The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME, performed at Glasgow’s Arches as part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, nominated for Best Ensemble and Best Use of Music and Sound.  You can read more about this unusual performance HERE

Another CATS first is the addition of an all-inclusive company with Lung Ha’s nominated in the Best Ensemble category for Huxley’s Lab, a collaboration with Grid Iron.

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 have each appeared in at least one category.

CATS co-convenor Mark Fisher said: “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. It’s sure to make for a lively ceremony on 13 June.”

The Traverse Theatre also received the largest number of nominations for any one show, with The Dark Things appearing in six categories, while Glasgow’s Tron Theatre appears in four different categories for The Government Inspector, a co-production with Communicado Theatre Company.

CATS newcomers this year include playwrights Alan Bissett for Turbo Folk (A Play, a Pie and a Pint) and Kieran Hurley for Hitch (The Arches), while Lung Ha’s Theatre Company, Theatre Modo, the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and Giant have also appeared on the shortlist for the first time.

Now in its eighth year, the 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.

Adjudicated by a panel of Scotland’s theatre critics, the event is open to members of the public and offers a unique opportunity for audiences and Scotland’s theatre community to celebrate the contribution that work produced in Scotland makes to the cultural life of the country.

As well as entry to the awards ceremony, which starts at 3pm on Sunday 13th June, tickets include live entertainment, drinks and light refreshments. Costing £15, they can be purchased from the Festival Theatre box office on 0131 529 6000 or online HERE

The nominations are:
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), sponsored by STV:
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 for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in association with The Work Room
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 for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in association with The Work Room

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), in association with 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

Visit www.criticsawards.theatrescotland.com for details of past nominees and winners.

Comments (most recent first)

Leave a comment