The principal event in the Gauteng theatre calendar came to a dazzling climax on Tuesday, April 19, when the winners of the prestigious Naledi Theatre Awards were announced to a packed audience at the Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City.
For the first time in the Awards 12-year history, the same actress has won the Best Lead Performance in a Play (Female) for two different plays.
Fiona Ramsay, one of South Africa's most prominent performers, received her award for her roles in Miss Dietrich Regrets and Doubt. Her co-star in Doubt, Janna Ramos-Violante, won the Best Supporting Actress award.
Another exciting 'first' for the Naledi’s was the overwhelming success of Moagi Modise's Lepatata. It won the Best Ensemble category, making South African theatrical history in the process as the first Setswana play to win a major theatre award. The play was directed by Makhaola Ndebele.
Another innovation this year by Naledi's Executive Director, Dawn Lindberg, was the Lesedi Spirit of Courage Award which went to Gaynor Young, who was seriously injured during a production of the musical, Camelot at the SA State Theatre some years ago.
On winning the awards, she says: "I am overwhelmed! I am humbled at being awarded the very first Lesedi Spirit of Courage Award. Courage! That is such a noble and powerful word suggesting bravery and fearlessness. I possess neither! I am simply taking part in this wonderful thing called life. Like everyone, I have experienced downs as well as ups. I am unbelievably fortunate in that my life is surrounded by love. And that has made all the difference."
Top honours this year went to Lara Foot's magnificent staging of Fishers of Hope (4 awards), including Best Production of a Play.
The dark musical Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won three awards, and Nataniël's innovative musical After Animals took home five awards. Janice Honeyman's effervescent musical Sister Act garnered three awards, and Greg Homann's thought-provoking Alan Paton drama, A Voice I Cannot Silence, also walked away with three awards.
Ralph Lawson, who portrayed controversial author and poet Alan Paton in Cry the Beloved Country, took the top acting accolade for Best Lead Performance in a Play (Male). Bright new face, Menzi Mkhwane, won The Brett Golden Award for Best Newcomer/Breakthrough award for the same production. Gregg Homann and Lawson also won the award for Best New SA Script.
Apart from winning the Best Production of a Play category, Fishers of Hope also provided other winners; Phillip Tipo Tindisa (Best Supporting Actor), Patrick Curtis (Best Set Design) and Grant van Ster (Best Original Choreography).
Khayelihle Dominique Gumede was named Best Director of a Play for his vivid interpretation of the evergreen Crepuscule about love across the colour line.
The versatile Jonathan Roxmouth once again shone on Naledi night, walking away with the Best Performance in a Musical award for his captivating lead role in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Director Steven Stead was voted Best Director of a Musical/Revue for this production, which also received The Joan Brickhill Award for Best Production of a Musical Sponsored by Carolyn Steyn.
Veteran musical maestro, Nataniël, once again stunned audiences with his out-of-the-box production of After Animals, which received a host of technical awards. These were for Best Lighting Design (Kevin Stannet), Best Sound Design (Larry Pullen) and Best AV/Animation (JanHendrik Burger), and the Best Score/ Arrangement/ Adaptation, while the award for Best Costume Designer went to Floris Louw.
Sister Act allowed singer and actress Candida Mosoma to show her true mettle and she danced off with Best Performance in a Musical, while Rowan Bakker, no stranger to award ceremonies, won Best Musical Director. Phumi Mncayi was named Best Support/Featured Performance for her part in Sister Act.
The award for Best Production for Children (0-12) (Supported by Assitej SA) went to Shrek, The Musical JR, which was staged by Jill Girard and Keith Smith’s People's Theatre, while Making Mandela took the honours in the Best Production for Young Audiences (13-17) (Supported by Assitej SA) category.
Gamelihle Bovana was recognised for his performance in James and the Giant Peach and received an award for Best Performance in a Childrens' Theatre Production (Supported by Assitej SA).
Johnny Boskak is Feeling Funny received the Best Production: Cutting Edge nod for writer and co-director Craig Morris.
At this year's glittering ceremony, Lifetime Achievement Awards were given posthumously to the late Taliep Petersen and to Cape Town's illustrious entertainer Alvon Collison, while the World Impact Award went to the internationally renowned acapella group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
