Firstly a quick note about the division between my technical and artistic categories – it’s basically rubbish. As the vast majority of the awards in this section are also highly artistic, whilst the awards in the artistic section are equally accomplished technically. But it keeps the sections down to manageable levels, so we’re just going to have to go with it.
Now for some stats: This year I saw 147 productions, 177 times. Which is the equivalent of three elephants riding a moped. Want a visual representation, here you go:
The ‘Words, Words, Words’ Award for Best Playwright
A tough category as I’ve seen several excellent new plays this year – but in the end given how much I loved ‘The Kitchen Sink’ and his short play for 66 Books, ‘Beardy’, the winner had to be Tom Wells. He captures a very natural approach and style, matching it with a lyrical touch and sense of magic, humorous and moving. Hope to see a lot more from him in the future (and a revival of ‘Me, As A Penguin’ wouldn’t go awry).
The ‘Whole New World’ Award for Best Set Design
There are a lot of qualities you could judge a set against depending upon your preferences, for me the two most important are the positive impact the set has upon the production/performance and the impact it has upon me as an audience member. With that in mind I’ve had to pick two winners for this one:
- Börkur Jonsson for ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’ at the RSC. One of the most exciting sets I’ve ever seen, it set the irreverent feeling of frivolity and beauty for both the production and the audience perfectly. Plus it’s hard to resist a set that has a 12 foot slide, a tree above you, rope work and grass.
- Holly Waddington for ‘Electra’ at the Gate Theatre. This is almost the direct opposite of ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’ – small, claustrophobic, dark, steamy – but, like that set, this fitted the feel of the production perfectly. Both the cast and the audience were tied together in the nightmarish intimacy of the traverse stage, and the image of Electra tearing apart the floor boards at my feet has stuck powerfully with me.
The ‘Michael Billington’ Award for Best Use of Water in a Theatre
Right up to the last minute this award would have gone to the certainly impressive ‘sea’ of water in the Young Vic’s ‘I Am The Wind’, but at the very last minute the Bush’s ‘The Kitchen Sink’ stormed in with one of the most impressive on-stage aquatic explosions I’ve seen (particularly given it was in a very intimate in the round setting).
The ‘Building Them Up To Tear Them Down’ Award for Set Destruction
This year I’ve seen poor stage crews cleaning up all sorts of food, water and debris following enthusiastic acting (on one joyous occasion they were even using a Henry Hoover to vacuum the grass). And a special mention should go to Michael Sheen for destroying impressive swathes of the set when I saw ‘Hamlet’. But my heart (and this award) went out most of all to the crew dealing with the truly impressive destruction caused by the cast of ‘Electra’ at the Gate Theatre where Cath Whitefield shattered the flooring tiles with a spade, pulled up floor boards and proceeded to dig up a significant amount of soil and rubble from beneath.
The ‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’ Award for Costume Design
I’ve been a tad disappointed with a lot of the costume design I’ve seen this year, which hasn’t lived up to previous years – with less care taken (lots of rips, loose seams, strange fabric choices etc. even in very intimate theatres) and a lack of imagination. Thankfully there have been one or two exceptions that have really shone for me. I loved the irreverence of ‘The Globe Mysteries’ (The Globe overall have an outstanding attention to detail in their costumes); I thought Kneehigh’s ‘The Wild Bride’ had some beautiful costumes that added wonderfully to the fairy tale world they’d created; and I was more than a little swayed by some of the costumes (or the lack thereof) in ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’. But I still think this award belongs most of all to Stewart Charlesworth for ‘Iolanthe’ at Wilton’s Music Hall – wonderfully inventive, magical, evocative and still making me grin months later.
The ‘You Probably Couldn’t See For The Lights’ Award for Lighting Design
Despite some strong competition at the end of the year from the beautifully rich lighting of ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’ and ‘Richard II’ at the Donmar Warehouse; I’ve decided to stick with my mid-year choice and give this one to Bruno Poet for ‘Cause Célèbre’ at the Old Vic. With a deceptively simple design, Poet achieved vast amounts, aiding the difficult transitions between scenes and building an evocative design that captured time, place and emotion.
The ‘Painting Pictures on the Stage’ Award for Best Use of Projection
This was a bit of a last minute addition as I’ve never been convinced that projections work in the theatre – thankfully at the very last minute ‘Backbeat’ at the Duke of York’s proved me otherwise. With their projection’s transforming the simple set into a variety of locations and allowing us to experience the world in the more artistic way the characters viewed it. Consistently used throughout, but without being intrusive, I thought it was masterfully handled.
The ‘Sound of Silence’ Award for Best Sound Design
Though I’m not sure it was entirely perfect (I would have liked a simpler ending), I was greatly enamoured overall by Adam Cork’s work on ‘Richard II’ at the Donmar. Initially very rich, choral and almost fussy with background noises – the sound was stripped almost entirely once Richard was deposed – matched with a colder lighting scheme the world became a much bleaker place, sound truly returning only at Richard’s spiritual awakening at the end. Excellent work.
The ‘Right Notes in the Right Order’ Award for Best New Score
I almost gave this one to the highly inventive ‘London Road’ by Adam Cork, but have decided in the end that it belongs instead to Michael Bruce for his incredible work on ‘66 Books’. Throughout, he composed not only music to accompany some of the pieces but a linking score that wove us from one story and one mood to another. His work was a vital part of what made the 24 hour event successful and some of it is still resonating deeply with me today.
The ‘Old Songs, New Feelings’ Award for Added Musical Emotions
It’s been a good year for familiar songs making me weep like a small child, (even whilst I’m listening to them six months later to write awards) so have decided to award this one to three highly deserving entries:
- The Young Vic’s ‘Hamlet’ managed to create a delicately twisted, complicated relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude (who were quite possibly not even related) and one of the best moments for me was Hamlet dancing with a blindfolded Gertrude to Crying by Roy Orbison – spot lit, disturbing and completely heartbreaking.
- The RSC ‘Merchant of Venice’ was crammed full of both music and unexpected feelings, but the most emotional was definitely Jamie Beamish’s version of Elvis’ Lonesome Tonight during the grief filled conclusion. The moment where he says ‘the world’s a stage’ was particularly magical.
- I fear it is always going to be hard to explain that I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton is: a) a song about a break-up between a man and his milk truck; and b) the saddest/most beautiful thing in all the world. But thanks to the sublime ‘The Kitchen Sink’ at the Bush Theatre, I will never be convinced that’s not the case.
The ‘Shall We Dance’ Award for Best Choreography
Whilst I strongly feel me and Jan should win this one for our ‘Woman in Black’ inspired pointing dance, in the name of fairness I’m sticking with my mid-year choice and this is going to Mark Smith for ‘Iolanthe’, as I’ve said before, I loved the way Wilton’s allowed the choreography to expand and gave them the opportunity to create striking and entertaining stage pictures – combined with the delicacy of the fairies, the exaggerated gestures of the lords and Kingsley Hall’s magical opening dance – it was hard not to fall in love.
The ‘Behind Every Good Show’ Award for Best Stage Management Team
There could only ever be one winner of this one for me - the Bush Theatre’s ‘66 Books’ team. I still can’t comprehend how they managed to keep 66 sets, 66 lighting/sound cues, over a hundred costumes and more actors than anyone would want to wrangle not only straight, but running to time.
No comments:
Post a Comment