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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Article |
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Theatre index>
Critics Awards for
Theatre in Scotland. Details of the 2002
- 03 Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland. The Award For Best Male Performance
went to John Kazek as Guy de Maupassant in
Pleasure
and Pain, by Mark Thomson and directed by him, at the Glasgow
Citizens. Mark Thomson is taking over from Kenny Ireland as Artistic Director
for Royal Lyceum Theatre Company. He has just announced their 2003 - 2004
season and will be directing their first production in the season Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar in September. The Award for Best Design went to Calum Colvin, one of Scotland's most respected photographic artists making his debut as a theatre designer. His giant breathing bellows, like the bellows of an old-fashioned camera, were designed for Peter Arnott's impressive new Victorian melodrama, The Breathing House. It was produced by the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, Edinburgh and directed by Kenny Ireland, who is about to retiring from being its Artistic Director after 10 years of seeing the company into its present vibrant form. The Award For Best New Play went to David Greig's Outlying Islands, a production directed by Philip Howard from that powerhouse of new writing in Scotland, the Traverse, Edinburgh. It was premiered during the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and is touring Scotland this May/June 2003. The play is published by Faber and available from the Traverse, Faber and good bookshops. Robert Dawson Scott, the awards convenor, said: "We set up these awards in order to highlight the high quality of theatre in Scotland. The fact that we were unable finally to separate the two best productions underlines just how good a year it has been. Although we were able to find outright winners in all the other categories, the margins of victory were in all cases extremely narrow." The critics’ panel also announced that, in recognition of his immeasurable contribution to theatre in Scotland over the 34 years in which he has been director of the Glasgow Citizens, it wished to honour Giles Havergal. The critics will collectively sponsor a seat at the Citizens Theatre, at a cost of £500, as a contribution to the theatre’s current fund-raising campaign. Giles Havergal also played Ebeneezer Scrooge in the winning production of Scrooge. The critics also announced that they intended to make the awards an annual
event and would be seeking financial support for a larger scale awards
ceremony next year. Five extra categories of award will be added: best
director, best technical presentation, best children’s show, best
ensemble production and best music. One of the critics involved in the five hour debate, the editor and chief
critic of EdinburghGuide's Theatre Section Thelma Good said, " These
winners show how much creative life there is in Scottish Theatre today
and the closeness of other nominees reflects its depth. I'm very glad
we are acknowledging these people's and companies' achievements. They
work in an art form which is of its nature ephemeral, so the Critics Awards
for Theatre in Scotland marks their best achievements." Any piece of theatre produced in Scotland in the last twelve months from
May 2002 - April 2003, (the natural break in the theatre year) was eligible.
Before these Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland there were no awards
which concentrated exclusively on the unique voices of theatre in Scotland.
Previously the nearest equivalent was the TMA Regional Theatre Awards,
administered by the Theatre Managers Association in London, which cover
theatre, opera and dance all over the UK outside London. In the 2002 TMA
awards, which cover a slightly different time period from the proposed
Scottish awards, Scottish theatres won four awards - The theatre critics in Scotland involved in awarding
the first Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland were: Theatre index>
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