2017 Naledi Theatre Awards: Nominations Revealed
 
After much anticipation, the Naledi Theatre Awards is proud to announce the nominees for productions staged during 2016.
The Nominations Reveal was hosted by the Market Theatre and took place on 27 March at the Mannie Manim Theatre amidst great excitement from the theatre industry’s key players.
 
“The event last night proved what a highlight the Naledi’s is in the local theatre calendar. The phenomenal list of nominees is evidence that theatre is alive and very well in South Africa, and we so look forward to honouring these actors, producers, technicians and other thespians at the Awards this year,” says Dawn Lindberg, Executive Director of the Naledi Theatre Awards.”
 
The Naledi Theatre Awards have been in existence for 13 years and are recognised as the premier Awards event on the Gauteng Theatre Calendar. Its mission is to recognise and reward excellence in the Performing Arts, to raise the profile of Live Theatre and to create awareness of the abundance of talent alive and well on our SA stages.
 
Over the past 13 years, The Naledi Theatre Awards has honoured over 60 Lifetime Achievers, veteran artistes, technicians, and administrators who have dedicated their lives to SA Theatre, while also paying tribute to people in the arts who have taken their final bows during the year under review.
The Naledi Theatre Awards covers all mainstream professional productions from the period 1 January - 1 December of the previous year and the Naledi judges typically evaluate over 100 productions in approximately 27 categories. The Naledi panel of judges consists of informed and regular theatre-goers, academics, and members of the media covering the arts in Johannesburg.
 
“It is indeed a huge commitment and labour of love for the judges whose only reward is two tickets to the shows,” says Lindberg. The debates are open and vigorous, but in the end, agreement is reached. Our only criteria is excellence, and it is particularly gratifying to see how much new local work is rising to the top.”
 
Judges for this year’s Awards include: Renos Spanoudes (playwright, actor, presenter and drama teacher), Welcome Msomi (theatre producer and playwright), Sello Maake ka Ncube (TV and stage actor), Maishe Maponya (playwright and arts activist), Peter Feldman (arts journalist), Helen Heldenmuth (educational drama specialist, public speaker, writer and director), Gregory Goss (equestrian instructor, rider and international judge) Johan van der Merwe (theatre producer and Afrikaans Festival judge), Annelize Hicks (theatre lover and drama teacher), Jenni Newman (PR and radio presenter), Matthew Counihan (drama teacher and actor), Rudi Sadler (graphic designer and producer), Tiffany Higgo (drama teacher) and Lance Maron (ENT surgeon with a special interest in care of the professional voice, and singer/performer).
 
A special panel for Theatre for Young Audiences partnered with ASSITEJ SA to provide a wider scope for quality work which is touring to schools and learners in Gauteng.  Selected productions are invited to showcases twice per year at which the panel sees work they would not otherwise see due to the touring nature of theatre for young audiences.
 
This panel includes Gerard Bester (director of the Hillbrow Theatre Project), Allison Green (ASSITEJ SA director), Kgomotso Christopher (TV and stage actress), Omphile Molusi (theatre director and playwright), Dorianne Alexander (drama teacher, actress, public speaking trainer and adjudicator), Lakin Morgan-Baatjies (arts administrator) and Renos Spanoudes (drama teacher, writer and director).
 
“The date for the Awards event has not been determined as yet, due to lack of funding,” says Acting Chairman of the Naledi Theatre Awards, Welcome Msomi. “However, we are hoping to hear from potential sponsors very soon so that the much-coveted Awards event can proceed as planned.”
 
“The Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City is holding dates for the Awards, and Clive Morris Productions are on standby to film the Awards event (once sponsorship or funding has been secured),” says Msomi. “M-Net, KykNet and Mzansi Magic are keen to become media partners and have undertaken to broadcast the event.”
 
“It is vitally important to keep the Naledi's alive as we hold a mirror to what is happening on our stages while encouraging new audiences and practitioners,” says Lindberg. “Theatre reflects our ever changing society and tells our stories of pain, rage, joy, celebration, and those of the human indomitable spirit,” she concludes.

CHECK OUT THE 2017 NALEDI NOMINEES HERE

​Now in its seventh year, the Annual South African Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards® (Savanna CCA’s) will be the biggest – and farthest reaching – yet. For the first time, the pinnacle comedy awards event in South Africa will expand to include all African countries – a first for the industry.
 
Held under the banner of “The Freedom of Funny”, the Awards will celebrate the power that humour has to break down barriers and open borders between African countries and encourage the free flow of comedy talent.
 
This freedom is the cornerstone of comedians’ ability to make people laugh – and to make a living. This is the freedom they have (and need) to create, to express and to poke fun at the serious and often silly side of everyday life.
 
“This theme was chosen after the success of last year’s theme – ‘For The Love Of Laughter’. We saw a really good reception by the South African public to a more accessible, upbeat theme. Not to say we won’t take a darker turn down the road again, but for now, while the country navigates a tough period - we felt it would be great to celebrate positive aspects of comedy again,” says John Vlismas, Savanna CCA co-founder.
 
With its expansion into Africa, the style of the Savanna CCA’s this year will be contemporary and premium African design work, the inclusion of all previous winners in a collage that resonates unity and the strong image of a young comic hoisting Waldo aloft in a gesture redolent of Madiba - the Savanna CCA’s will use the 2017 campaign to celebrate the coming together of a family of Comedy Artists across Africa. This year with a new director, script, cast and venue, the Awards will again be an exceptional and highly entertaining event.
 
2017 categories
The Savanna CCA’s has expanded to 11 awards (the largest to date), and recognise outstanding talent across a range of categories:
 

• The Savanna Newcomer Comic Award.
• The Intermediate Comic Award.
• The Comics’ Pen Award.
• The Lifetime Achiever Award.
• The Flying Solo Comic Award.
• The Non-English Comic Award.
• The Nando’s Best Friend of Comedy Award.
• The Breakthrough Award.
• The Savanna Pan-African Comic Award.  This award will go to the comic on the continent (excluding South Africa) who has contributed the most to the African comedy industry, as voted for by his or her fellow African and South African comedians.
• The Audience Choice Award (the only category in which the public can vote).
• The Savanna Comic of the Year.

 
Put these dates in your diary!
Over the course of five months the Savanna CCA’s will be rolling out the yellow carpet at a series of events that will be the highlights on the comedy calendar.
 
Sunday 28 May: Savanna Newcomer Showcase at The Soweto Theatre. 
 
Wednesday 12 July: Press Lunch and Nominee Announcement. Public voting opens for the Audience Choice Nominees at 5pm that day. Venue to be confirmed.
 
Wednesday 16 August: Grilling of a Lifetime.
 
Saturday 9 September: Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards 2017 will be held at The Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City, Johannesburg.
 
The only category in which the public can vote is the Audience Choice Award. Voting for that category opens on Monday 22 May and closes on Thursday 25 August. For details on how to vote, visit www.comicschoice.com.
 
The best awards have the best partners
The Savanna CCA’s would like to thank all its partners for championing comedy talent and for helping to make the Awards possible. First and foremost, to long-term partner, Savanna Premium Cider, which is sponsoring the Awards for the sixth year running. This year we welcome Nando’s as an award sponsor, and thank media partners VUZU AMP Sunday World and Kaya FM 95.9.
 
For information on and to buy tickets for SA’s premier comedy awards event to be held on 9 September at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City, visitwww.comicschoice.com.