Marikana – The Musical sweeps clean at awards nominations

It created enormous interest because of its controversial subject matter and the manner in which it was depicted.

South African theatre professionals were abuzz with activity when the Naledi Theatre Awards announced their list of nominations for 2015.

The star-studded event was held at the Market Theatre Laboratory in Newtown. Actors Nthati Moshesh and Tats Nkonzo took to the stage to announce the nominations for each of the respective categories.

Theatre stalwarts Athol Fugard for The Shadow of the Hummingbird and John Kani for Missing, were also recognised for their contributions with nominations for Best Performance in a Play: Male.

Organiser and executive director of the Naledi Theatre Awards Dawn Lindberg was very excited at the chance to announce the chosen pool of talent for the upcoming awards. “There is a lot of excitement from the whole theatre community. You could feel it all around,” she said.

Lindberg continued to point out that the awards have blossomed since it first started 11 years ago.“It’s really grown from a tiny little awards event to the extent where we have to go the Lyric Theatre to accommodate the large influx of interest. The awards have grown exponentially every year. It just goes to show you how powerful and respected Naledi has become in the South African theatre industry, as well as internationally,” she said.

Arts Angel Carolyn Steyn explained her participation in the awards. “It is a privilege to be on the panel of judges for the fourth year. To all of us on the panel, every nominee is a winner. The Naledis give us an opportunity to see the best of the best in our theatre industry. I for one, just can’t wait,” she said.

The 25 awards will be handed out during the gala ceremony on 14 April at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City.

A summed-up list of nominees:

Best Performance in a Musical: Female

• Caroline Borole – Ketekang

• Bethany Dickson – The Sound Of Music

• Nokukhanya Dlamini – Ketekang

• Thembsie Matu – Peter Pan – The Pantomime

• Emma Mmekwa – Marikana – The Musical

• PJ Powers – Firefly

• Janelle Visagie – The Sound Of Music

Best Performance in a Musical: Male

• Desmond Dube – Protest

• Meshach Mavuso – Marikana – The Musical

• Nataniël – Rainbow At Midnight

• Aubrey Poo – Marikana – The Musical

• Jonathan Roxmouth – Call Me Lee

• Brendan van Rhyn – The Rocky Horror Show

• Craig Urbani – Peter Pan – The Pantomime

Best Lead Performance in a Play: Female

• Patricia Boyer – Cooking With Elisa

• Susan Danford – Missing

• Ashleigh Harvey – BASH

• Momo Matsunyane – Have You Seen Zandile

• Bo Petersen – Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

• Janna Ramos-Violante – Constellations

• Jackie Rens – The Vertical Hour

Best Lead Performance in a Play: Male

• James Alexander – BASH

• Athol Fugard – The Shadow of The Hummingbird

• Daniel Janks – BASH

• John Kani – Missing

• Lionel Newton – Pale Natives

• Michael Richard – The Vertical Hour

• Seputla Sebogade – Mating Birds

Best production of a play

• Pale Natives

• Missing

• Cooking With Elisa

• The Shadow of The Hummingbird

• BASH

• A Human Being Died That Night

• VIGIL

Best production of a musical The Joan Brickhill Award

• The Rocky Horror Show

• The Sound Of Music

• Marikana – The Musical

• Reik na die Sterre

• Ketekang

• Peter Pan – The Pantomime

The full list of nominees can be found here.