Wales Theatre Awards
Sat 27 January, Riverfront Theatre Newport
Collaboration is key for the development of the arts in Wales as John-Paul Davies found out at this year’s Wales Theatre Awards.
The big 18 on the front of the programme seemed to imply that this annual arts shindig has come of age. It’s a big night in the Welsh calendar, celebrating every aspect of the creation and performance of drama, ballet and opera. And, impressively, the Wales Theatre Awards has reached a new level of maturity in no longer relying on council funding to exist. With great pride, director Mike Smith announced that the apron strings have been cut – or maybe the purse strings have been tightened – and that the WTA is now funded by a variety of institutions from the South Wales Argus to Trinity Saint David University, alongside the Riverfront Theatre itself.
This theme of collaboration, of partnership, of looking in to Wales continued throughout the evening. Of the 80 productions nominated, only around a dozen were produced by a lone company. The rest were all collaborations between theatres and artists, dance companies and orchestras, universities and playwrights. Funding these projects was also a hot topic.
From the off, Theatr na nÓg director Geinor Styles called for investment to be spent on this side of the border and for organisations to stop looking to the rest of the world for affirmation as she accepted Best Show for Children and Young People for Eye of the Storm. But the ceremony was far from insular or introspective. The Wales and the World Award celebrated the achievements of Daniel Llewelyn-Williams, whose one-man show, A Regular Little Houdini, had transferred from Newport to New York via England, Scotland and Australia. Llewelyn-Williams treated the packed Riverfront to a brilliant excerpt from the piece, fittingly set in Newport itself, just before the full-time score of Newport County vs Spurs was related to the partisan crowd.
Productions in English and Welsh were celebrated equally and equality of gender or race was a non-issue in an evening which showed just how inclusive and balanced the arts in Wales genuinely is. Tamara Harvey, winner of Best Director for Theatr Clwyd and Sheffield Theatre’s Uncle Vanya, referenced harassment in the workplace alongside funding cuts in an honest description of challenges facing the arts. But the answer was always to work together, to find strength in unity and honesty. And most importantly, to keep creating and keep wetting the nation’s artistic appetite.
In response, the Wales Critics Fund has been created in partnership with the awards. With a mainstream media that devotes less and less time to arts reviews, the industry is finding a way to fund and train reviewers to ensure that the many great artistic companies on show continue to be scrutinized, praised and challenged.
The night ended with Godfrey Evans of West Glamorgan Youth Theatre receiving the Special Achievement Award. His reminder that “access to the arts is a right and not a privilege” summed up an evening that showed the Welsh arts scene as not only thriving, but brave, outspoken and far from complacent. Evans, the teacher of Russell T. Davies, Martin Sheen and countless others held the audience with a demonstration of perfect pacing and polished delivery. The Wales Theatre Awards has matured through an acute understanding of the real world pressures of austerity and shifting political priorities. Let’s hope it continues to grow old with the dignity, influence and clarity of Godfrey Evans.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS
BEST DESIGN AND / OR COSTUME
Buddug James Jones & Anneliese Mowbray
Gwledd Gwyddno / The Sea King’s Feast
Cwmni Theatr Arad Goch
BEST DIRECTOR
Tamara Harvey
Uncle Vanya
Theatr Clwyd & Sheffield Theatres
BEST LIGHTING
Joe Fletcher,
Macbeth
Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
BEST SOUND
Lucy Rivers
Sinners Club
Gagglebabble
Theatr Clwyd & The Other Room
BEST ENSEMBLE
Tiger Bay
Wales Millennium Centre / Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru & Cape Town Opera
BEST CHOREOGRAPHER
Marcos Morau
Tundra
National Dance Company Wales / Cwmni Dawns Cenedlaethol Cymru
BEST FEMALE DANCE ARTIST
Anna Pujol
The Light Princess
Ballet Cymru, Catrin Finch & The Riverfront / Glan yr Afon
BEST MALE DANCE ARTIST
Ed Myhill
Animatorium
National Dance Company Wales / Cwmni Dawns Cenedlaethol Cymru
BEST DANCE PRODUCTION
Shadow Aspect
Ballet Cymru
BEST PRODUCTION IN THE WELSH LANGUAGE
Wythnos yng Nghymru Fydd
Opra Cymru
BEST PERFORMANCE IN THE WELSH LANGUAGE – MALE
Richard Lynch
Macbeth
Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
BEST PERFORMANCE IN THE WELSH LANGUAGE – FEMALE
Caryl Morgan
Yfory
Theatr Bara Caws
BEST MALE IN AN OPERA PRODUCTION
Simon Bailey
From the House of the Dead
Welsh National Opera / Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru
BEST OPERA PRODUCTION
Le Vin herbé
Welsh National Opera / Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru
PRODUCTION
Natalya Romaniw
Eugene Onegin
Welsh National Opera / Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru
BEST PRODUCTION IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Uncle Vanya
Theatr Clwyd & Sheffield Theatres
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Rosie Sheehy
Uncle Vanya
Theatr Clwyd & Sheffield Theatres
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Sion Daniel Young
Killology
Sherman Theatre / Theatr y Sherman & Royal Court Theatre
BEST PLAYWRIGHT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Gary Owen
Killology
Sherman Theatre / Theatr y Sherman & Royal Court Theatre
BEST PLAYWRIGHT IN THE WELSH LANGUAGE
Siôn Eirian
Yfory
Theatr Bara Caws
BEST TOURING PRODUCTION (WELSH)
Sieiloc
Rhodri Miles
BEST TOURING PRODUCTION (ENGLISH)
How To Win Against History
Àine Flanagan Productions, Seiriol Davies & y / the Young Vic
BEST SHOW FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE (WELSH)
Mwgsi
Cwmni’r Frân Wen
BEST SHOW FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE (ENGLISH)
Eye of the Storm
Theatr na nÓg
WALES AND THE WORLD
Daniel Llewelyn-Williams
A Regular Little Houdini
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
Godfrey Evans