CATS 2016 Shortlist Announced - Another Fabulous Year for Scottish Theatre!
Now in its 14th year, the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) again celebrates the best in Scottish theatre achievements. This year’s awards will see 12 nominations going to Glasgow’s Citizen’s Theatre that include Lanark: A Life in Three Acts and This Restless House with Edinburgh’s Lyceum having 4 including Waiting for Godot that starred Brian Cox and Bill Paterson and is also nominated for Best Director, Best Production and Best Ensemble.
This year Maureen Beattie receives her third CATS nomination for Best Female Performance for her role as Juliette in Right Now at Edinburgh’s Traverse and is joined by Pauline Knowles, Angela Darcy and EastEnders actor Emmanuella Cole. The category of Best Male Performance also includes TV star of The Thick of It and In the Loop Paul Higgins, who shares the nomination with Sandy Grierson, Cliff Burnett and Barrie Hunter.
CATS co-convenor Mark Fisher says, “This has been another vintage year for theatre in Scotland with no fewer than 20 productions recognised in the shortlists [demonstrating] tangibly the breadth of creative talent in Scottish theatre today.”
This year CATS have two new award sponsors with BECTU being the new sponsor of the Best Technical Presentation Award and the Scottish Drama Training Network the new sponsor of Best Male Performance. They join STV (Best Female Performance), Equity (Best Ensemble), Guitar Guitar (Best Music and Sound) and Young Scot (Best Production for Children and Young People) as award sponsors and the three CATS general supporters: The List, The Mackintosh Foundation and BBC Scotland Radio Drama.
CATS co-convenor Joyce McMillan adds, “Theatre is a collaborative art-form…For example, two co-commissions from the Edinburgh International Science Festival - Uncanny Valley and Lost at Sea - make the shortlist for Best Production for Children and Young People, and a co-production between Scotland and Norway, Drift by Vision Mechanics of Leith, is nominated in three categories. And our most nominated production, Lanark, is a co-production between one of our greatest companies, the Citizens’, and the Edinburgh International Festival…we’ll be celebrating the sheer diversity of Scottish theatre, as well as its greatest achievements, when we get together at the Lyceum on 12 June.”
The 2016 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland will be presented at a glittering ceremony on the afternoon of Sunday 12 June, 2016 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Tickets priced £15/£10 (students) from http://lyceum.org.uk/whats-on/production/critics-awards-for-theatre-in-…
Further information on the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland visit: www.criticsawards.theatrescotland.com and follow on Twitter @catsawards #CATS16
The CATS judging panel for 2016 was made up of: Mary Brennan (The Herald), Irene Brown (edinburghguide.com), Mark Brown (The Sunday Herald and the Daily Telegraph), Anna Burnside (Daily Record), Paul Cockburn (Broadway Baby), Neil Cooper (The Herald), Michael Cox (Across the Arts), Thom Dibdin (The Stage and AllEdinburghTheatre.com), Mark Fisher (The Guardian), Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman), David Pollok (The Independent), Allan Radcliffe (The Times), Amy Taylor (The Public Reviews and TVBomb), Gareth K Vile (The List) and Joy Watters (Across the Arts).
2016 CATS Shortlists
Best Male Performance sponsored by Scottish Drama Training Network
Cliff Burnett (Franz Stangl), Into That Darkness, Citizens Theatre
Sandy Grierson (Lanark/Duncan Thaw), Lanark: A Life in Three Acts, Citizens Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in association with Graham Eatough and Sorcha Dallas
Paul Higgins (Ray), Blackbird, Citizens Theatre
Barrie Hunter (Bob), Descent, produced by A Play, a Pie and a Pint, presented by the Traverse Theatre Company, in association with Luminate, Scotland's creative ageing festival
Best Female Performance sponsored by STV
Maureen Beattie (Juliette), Right Now, Traverse Theatre Company, Theatre Royal Bath Ustinov Studio and Bush Theatre
Emmanuella Cole (Hera), The Iliad, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Angela Darcy (Lisa) Ring Road, A Play, a Pie and a Pint, produced in association with the Traverse Theatre Company
Pauline Knowles (Clytemnestra), This Restless House, Citizens Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland
Best Ensemble sponsored by Equity
Great Expectations, Horsecross Arts and Dundee Rep Ensemble
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre
Purposeless Movements, Birds of Paradise Theatre Company
Waiting for Godot, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Best Director
Dominic Hill, This Restless House, Citizens Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland
Jemima Levick, Great Expectations, Horsecross Arts and Dundee Rep Ensemble
Robert Softley Gale, Purposeless Movements, Birds of Paradise Theatre Company
Mark Thomson, Waiting for Godot, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Best Design
Laura Hopkins (designer), Nigel Edwards (lighting designer) and Simon Wainwright (video artist), Lanark: A Life in Three Acts, Citizens Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in association with Graham Eatough and Sorcha Dallas
Adrian Barbour, Kim Bergsagel, Iain Halket, Symon Macintyre, Tony Reason, Alice Wilson (designers) and Stephen Moir (assistant designer), Drift, Vision Mechanics and Nordland Visual Theatre, Stamsund, Norway
Becky Minto (designer) and Mike Roberston (lighting designer), Great Expectations, Horsecross Arts and Dundee Rep Ensemble
Michael Taylor (designer) and Mark Doubleday (lighting designer), Waiting for Godot, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Best Music and Sound sponsored by Guitar Guitar
Nikola Kodjabashia (composer/sound designer), This Restless House, Citizens Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland
Martin Lowe (music arranger and supervisor), Mike Walker (sound designer), the band and cast, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, National Theatre of Scotland
Eddie Maguire (composer), Nik Paget-Tomlinson (sound design) and Niroshini Thambar (sound design), Drift, Vision Mechanics and Nordland Visual Theatre, Stamsund, Norway
Nick Powell (composer/sound designer), Lanark: A Life in Three Acts, Citizens Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in association with Graham Eatough and Sorcha Dallas
Best Technical Presentation sponsored by BECTU
Beauty and the Beast, Horsecross Arts
Drift, Vision Mechanics and Nordland Visual Theatre, Stamsund, Norway
The Driver’s Seat, National Theatre of Scotland
Lanark: A Life in Three Acts, Citizens Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in association with Graham Eatough and Sorcha Dallas
Best Production for Children and Young People sponsored by Young Scot
Little Red and the Wolf, Dundee Rep Ensemble in association with Noisemaker
Lost at Sea, Catherine Wheels Theatre Company, commissioned by Edinburgh International Science Festival working in partnership with Imaginate
Magic Sho, Shona Rep, produced by Catherine Wheels Theatre Company
Uncanny Valley, Borderline Theatre in co-production with the Gaiety Theatre, commissioned by Edinburgh International Science Festival working in partnership with Imaginate
Best New Play
Linda Duncan McLaughlin, Descent, produced by A Play, a Pie and a Pint, presented by the Traverse Theatre Company, in association with Luminate, Scotland's creative ageing festival
Gary McNair A Gambler's Guide to Dying, Gary McNair with Show and Tell
Zinnie Harris, This Restless House, Citizens Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland
Anita Vettesse, Ring Road, A Play, a Pie and a Pint, produced in association with the Traverse Theatre Company
Best Production
Lanark: A Life in Three Acts, Citizens Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in association with Graham Eatough and Sorcha Dallas
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre
This Restless House, Citizens Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland
Waiting for Godot, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh