The 11th annual Naledi Theatre Awards took place on Monday, 17 March 2014 at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City to acknowledge notable professionals in the theatre arts in 25 categories.
Local pro audio, lighting and trussing suppliers and founding sponsors Audiosure were once again sponsors of two categories under two of their brands; Wharfdale Pro and Chauvet Lighting. Noted lighting designer Dennis Hutchinson took both awards, respectively Best Set Design and Best Lighting, for his work in a single production, Sunset Boulevard.
Also in attendance was John Silver, General Manager of Audiosure’s “Pro’ division, Chris Andrews, Marketing Manager and Gavin Atkinson, Audiosure’s lighting guru and compliance officer.
This is the 11th consecutive year since the founding of the Naledi Theatre Awards that Audiosure has supported the ceremony.
“The importance of private sector involvement in the arts cannot be overstated’, says Andrews, “and as it’s an industry that is very close to our (Audiosure’s) hearts, it’s the ideal opportunity to show the artists, designers, producers, technical crew and the theatre venues themselves that we appreciate all that they do to keep the theatre not only alive, but world class in South Africa. This was amply demonstrated in Monday’s superb performances where we were treated to snippets of some of the finest shows SA theatre had to offer in 2013.’
Surprisingly, there was no award for Sound Design this year. Dawn Lindberg, executive and technical director for Naledi, said that the panel of judges decided not to include the category of Best Sound Design for a number of reasons.
She explains: “We have decided to separate the sound design category into two categories [in the future]: Best Sound Design and Best Original Soundscape/FX. Most of the big “franchised’ musicals come in with a pre-designed sound spec which our sound technicians have to follow exactly. This year only three productions were eligible so we decided to cut it.’
According to Lindberg, Naledi intends on having a round table discussion with prominent sound designers in the industry to decide on criteria and eligibility for future awards.
