Nominees for the 54th Annual Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards Announced

The Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards announced its nominees for 2018 today. These annual awards are regarded amongst the most valued and prestigious in the South African performing arts industry. This year's ceremony will take place on Sunday, 10 March at 17:30 at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town and promises to be an evening celebrating Vintage theatre and wines.

For more than 50 years the Fleur du Cap wine brand has been making award-winning wines and this quality is proudly expressed through its association with the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards.

"In the same manner that the best grapes from the finest vineyards in the Cape Winelands are chosen for Fleur du Cap wines, the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards seek to recognise excellence in theatre. Theatre-makers, much like our winemakers, select scripts, ideas and other raw materials to craft and create the desired sensory experience, and then offer it to audiences for their enjoyment. We are thrilled to support South African theatremakers through our long and richly cultivated association," says Pieter Badenhorst, Fleur du Cap winemaker.

There are 26 different award categories, including Lifetime Achievement and Innovation in Theatre. The latter will be announced at the ceremony next month.

The panel of judges comprised Africa Melane, Dr Beverley Brommert, Eugene Yiga, Lwando Scott, Marina Griebenow, Maurice Carpede, Peggy Mongoato, Tracey Saunders and Dr Wayne Muller.

Nominees and winners are chosen from productions performed at professional theatre venues in and around Cape Town. Theatre practitioners are recognised for acting, directing, staging and technical ability. For musical theatre productions and opera, the casts on opening night are considered.

A total of 87 diverse productions from the year under review were eligible for consideration. They were, in alphabetical order:

#JustMen; 23 Years, A Month, and 7 Days; 50 Shades of Fairytales; A Faint Patch of Light; A Woman Alone And Other Female Parts; Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap; Alice in Wonderland; AMES; Apple Face; At Her Feet; At

the Edge of the Light; Aunty Merle the Musical; Bal-Oog en Brommel: Moord In Ixiastraat; Because It's Okay; Blueberry Toast; Calling Us Home; Crossing the Line; Curse of the Starving Class; Dandelions and Stones: Death Goes To Therapy; Dangled; Endgame; Fatal Attraction; Five Lesbians Eating A Quiche; Flame Book; Fool; Force; Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune; Gertrude Stein and A Companion; Goldilocks and the Three Bears; Gruesome Playground Injuries; Half Leeg; King Kong; Kinnes; Krismis van Map Jacobs; Kudu; Land Acts; Langarm; Lenny, Andrew, Steve, and Me; Loose... No Woman; Marsha: The Beginning of the End; Matilda the Musical; Medusa Incarnate; My Children! My Africa!; Noddy; Oleanna; Onweer; Othello: A Woman's Story; Pandora's Bag; Pinocchio; Present Laughter; Psalter; Ruth First: 117 Days; Sainthood; Satin to Sequins - More than a Minstrel; Selwyn and Gabriel; Shakespeare in Love; Significant Other; Snip/Tucked; Sweet Bird of Youth; Swerfgoed; Tales of Little Grey Rabbit; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time; The Deficit; The Demon Bride; The Devil and Billy Markham; The Elves and the Shoemaker; The Good, the Bad and the Fugly; The Island; The Nose; The Play That Goes Wrong; The Road to Mecca; The Sound of Music; The Taming of the Shrew; The Three Little Pigs; The Year of Magical Thinking; Therapy; Three Little Pigs; To Get to the Moon; Tsotsi the Musical; Uloyiko; Vlooi en die Musiekfabriek/Kipper and the Music Factory; West Side Story; When in Doubt, Say Darling; When Swallows Cry; Where She Walked; Womb of Fire and Woolworths.

In addition, productions presented by AFDA, City Varsity, Magnet Theatre, Northlink College, the Centre for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (UCT), the University of Stellenbosch and the Waterfront Theatre School were considered.

"Thinking about the production of fine wine might also remind us of the iterative nature of creating excellent theatre. It is only with the passage of time and often through exhausting trial and error that something finally emerges that is worthy of recognition and rises above the rest. So, these annual awards offer us an opportunity to celebrate excellence together," says Melanie Burke, chairperson of the judging panel.

Each award carries a cash prize of R15 000 and a silver medallion. All voting processes are audited and overseen by Distell Internal Audit and the legal firm Cluver Markotter Inc.

The nominees in the various categories are, in alphabetical order:

AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING STUDENT

Carlo Daniels (Magnet Theatre)

Cassandra-Tendai Mapanda (The Centre for Theatre, Drama and Preformance Studies, UCT)

Du Toit Albertze (US)

Lerato Makuwa (AFDA)

Nancy Sekhokoane (AFDA)

BEST NEW SOUTH AFRICAN SCRIPT

Bauke Snyman for Swerfgoed

Chase Rhys for Kinnes

Louis Viljoen for Dangled

Lwanda Sindaphi for Kudu

Rehane Abrahams for Womb of Fire

BEST NEW DIRECTOR

Gideon Lombard

Lesedi Job

Lwanda Sindaphi

Qondiswa James

Tinarie van Wyk Loots

BEST THEATRE PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Alice in Wonderland (Canal Walk)

Vlooi en die Musiekfabriek/Kipper and the Music Factory (Marinda Engelbrecht & Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE

The cast of Bal-oog en Brommel: Moord in Ixiastraat

The cast of Gertrude Stein and A Companion

The cast of Kinnes

The cast of Kudu

The cast of Sainthood

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A REVUE, CABARET OR ONE-PERSON SHOW

Daniel Mpilo Richards in Land Acts in Various Roles

Dorothy Ann Gould in The Year of Magical Thinking as Joan Didion

James Cairns in The Devil and Billy Markham in Various Roles

Rehane Abrahams in Womb of Fire in Various Roles

Rob van Vuuren in Dangled as Poprishchin

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

Cameron Seear in Matilda the Musical as Bruce

Conroy Scott in Calling Us Home as Ivan

Daniel Mpilo Richards in West Side Story as Bernardo

Desmond Dube in King Kong as Pop

Msizi Njapha in Tsotsi the Musical as Boston

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

Bethany Dickson in Matilda the Musical as Miss Honey

Claire Taylor in Matilda the Musical as Mrs Wormwood

Kgomotso Matsunyane in Tsotsi the Musical as Miriam

Nompumelelo Mayiyane in Matilda the Musical as Mrs Phelps

Thembisile Ntaka in Tsotsi the Musical as Adedola

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

Elton Landrew in Langarm as Eddie

Kevin Hack in West Side Story as Tony

Musanete Sakupwanya in Calling Us Home as Nelson

Mxolisi (Zuluboy) Majozi in Tsotsi the Musical as Tsotsi

Ryan de Villiers in Matilda the Musical as Miss Trunchbull

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

Carmen Pretorius in The Sound of Music as Maria Rainer

Kim Louis in Langarm as Dinah

Kitty Harris in Matilda the Musical as Matilda

Lynelle Kenned in Calling Us Home as Grace

Rushney Ferguson in Langarm as Angelina

BEST PUPPETRY DESIGN

Janni Younge for the Baby in Tsotsi the Musical

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

Craig Leo & Sara Matchett for Womb of Fire

Faheem Bardien for Ruth First: 117 Days

Gareth Hewitt Williams for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Hugh Vanstone for Matilda the Musical

Kobus Rossouw for Kinnes

BEST SET DESIGN

Chris Pienaar for Oleanna

Jemma Kahn & Kanya Viljoen for Swerfgoed

Michael Mitchell for Tsotsi the Musical

Rob Howell for Matilda the Musical

Saul Radomsky for The Road to Mecca

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Andrea van der Kuil & Sue Steele for Curse of the Starving Class

Birrie le Roux for Endgame

Marcel Meyer for Sweet Bird of Youth

Noluthando Lobese Moropa for Tsotsi the Musical

Rob Howell for Matilda the Musical

BEST SOUND DESIGN, ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSITION OR ORIGINAL SCORE

Gertjie Besselen for Bal-oog en Brommel: Moord in Ixiastraat for Original Music

James Webb for The Demon Bride for Soundscape

Lukhanyiso Skosana for Womb of Fire for Original Music Performance

Marcel Bezuidenhout for Tsotsi the Musical for Sound Design

Simon Baker for Matilda the Musical for Sound Design

BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERA - MALE

Aubrey Lodewyk in Mandela Trilogy as Mandela 3

Bongani Kubheka in Don Pasquale as Don Pasquale

Lukhanyo Moyake in Mandela Trilogy as Justice

Lunga Hallam in Don Pasquale as Ernesto

Makudupanyane Senaoana in Maria Stuarda as Robert Leicester

BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERA - FEMALE

Brittany Smith in Der Fledermaus as Adele

Brittany Smith in Don Pasquale as Norina

Janelle Visagie in La Voix Humaine as Elle

Violina Anguelov in Maria Stuarda as Elisabetta

Vuvu Mpofu in Maria Stuarda as Maria Stuarda

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY

Antony Coleman in Curse of the Starving Class as Taylor

Richard September in Swerfgoed in Various Roles

Rob van Vuuren in Curse of the Starving Class as Ellis/Slater

Roberto Pombo in Curse of the Starving Class as Wesley Tate

Soli Philander in Endgame as Nagg

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Ann Juries in The Taming of the Shrew as Grumio

Antoinette Kellermann in Endgame as Nell

Emily Child in The Road to Mecca as Elsa Barlow

Lesoko Seabe in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time as Siobhan

Nicole Holm in Swerfgoed as Aegistha

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Anna-Mart van der Merwe in Swerfgoed as Esta

Fiona Ramsay in Sweet Bird of Youth as Princess Kosmonopolis

Nicole Fortuin in Oleanna as Carol

Qondiswa James in A Faint Patch of Light as The Lover

Sandra Prinsloo in The Road to Mecca as Miss Helen

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTOR IN A PLAY

Alan Committie in Oleanna as John

Andrew Buckland in Endgame as Hamm

Kai Luke Brümmer in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time as Christopher Boone

Neil McCarthy in Curse of the Starving Class as Weston Tate

Rob van Vuuren in Endgame as Clov

BEST DIRECTOR

Greg Karvellas for Oleanna

Sara Matchett for Womb of Fire

Sylvaine Strike for Curse of the Starving Class

Sylvaine Strike for Endgame

Tinarie van Wyk Loots for Swerfgoed

BEST PRODUCTION

Endgame (Baxter Theatre & Derek Lubner)

Curse of the Starving Class (Baxter Theatre Centre & SU Woordfees)

Kudu (Baxter Theatre Centre & Magnet Theatre)

Matilda the Musical (Pieter Toerien Productions & GWB Entertainment)

Womb of Fire (The Mothertongue Project)

Tickets for the ceremony are available at R250 per person. Bookings can be made at Computicket on 0861 915 8000, online at www.computicket.com, at any Shoprite Checkers outlet as well as the Artscape Box Office (+27214109838) and Dial-a-Seat (+27214217695) from Monday, 4 February 2019.

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