THE WINNERS of the Manchester Theatre Awards 2011 are announced today and prove that the huge success of theatre in Manchester is by no means confined to the bigger theatres. Although both the Royal Exchange and The Lowry do very well, perhaps the most significant triumph is Bolton's Octagon Theatre.
Given the size of the venue and its resources, it's a remarkable success story that can be attributed in part to its departing executive director John Blackmore.
A small producing theatre whose very future was uncertain just a few years ago, the Octagon enjoyed a run of world-class productions last year and has won four of the 17 annual awards, including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best New Play and the coveted Best Production.
Margot LeicesterTheir artistic director David Thacker put his indelible stamp on a succession of productions, ranging from new plays to classics of modern theatre, and – in one of the latter – helped his wife Margot Leicester pick up the Best Actress award.
Another of his productions, Arthur Miller’s The Price, saw all four cast members nominated in four separate categories, while the play itself was winner of Best Production.
Given the size of the venue and its resources, it's a remarkable success story that can be attributed in part to its departing executive director John Blackmore.
At the other end of the scale, The Lowry in Salford unsurprisingly maintained its dominance as the region’s production powerhouse with six top awards, ranging across opera, ballet, major touring productions, a star-studded world premiere and a tiny studio performance.
Meanwhile, at the heart of a city proud of its theatre heritage, the Royal Exchange again proved it can more than hold its own with a Best Supporting Actress award in a startling new play that stemmed from the venue’s unique Bruntwood playwriting challenge, as well as Best Actor and Best Newcomer awards.
The contribution that he has made to this outstanding venue is also recognised in a special award to its outgoing Artistic Director Braham Murray.
Another world premiere, Ghost The Musical, won Manchester Opera House two awards and the creativity of adapting the Dickens’ classic Hard Times to its performance inside a disused cotton mill won Manchester Library Theatre the Design award.
The Life And Death Of Marina Abramovic was a Manchester International Festival commission that confused some audiences but amazed others. It impressed the Manchester Theatre Awards panel so much, though, that it won the Best Special Entertainment category.
Marina's mum and little Marina for MIF
A hotly-contested category was the Best Of The Fringe, with Ian Winterton's hard-hitting Sherica eventually just nudging ahead of Lucia Cox' one-woman show Blackbird, which reappears at Studio Salford for a brief run (tonight until Match 17) before its imminent tour.
THE AWARDS
BEST PRODUCTION
The Price, directed by David Thacker for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton
BEST ACTOR
Con O’Neill, in A View From The Bridge at the Royal Exchange
BEST ACTRESS
Margot Leicester, in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kenneth Alan Taylor, in The Price at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton
Shannon TarbetBEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Shannon Tarbet, in Mogadishu at the Royal Exchange
BEST NEW PLAY
Secret Thoughts, by David Lodge at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton
BEST NEWCOMER
Matthew Tennyson, in Beautiful Thing at the Royal Exchange
BEST STUDIO PERFORMANCE
Matthew Ganley, in God Wept And The Devil Laughed at The Lowry Studio
BEST OF THE FRINGE
Sherica, from Balloon Head and Shred Productions at the 24:7 Festival
BEST DESIGN
Hard Times, design Judith Croft; light Nick Richings; sound Peter Rice, Library Theatre at Murrays’ Mills, Manchester
BEST MUSICAL
Ghost The Musical, at the Opera House
BEST VISITING PRODUCTION
One Man, Two Guv’nors, from the National Theatre at The Lowry
BEST ACTOR IN A VISITING PRODUCTION
Rory Kinnear, in Hamlet, from the National Theatre at The Lowry
BEST ACTRESS IN A VISITING PRODUCTION
Sharon D Clarke, in Ghost The Musical at the Opera House
BEST SPECIAL ENTERTAINMENT
The Life And Death Of Marina Abramovic, for Manchester International Festival at The Lowry
OPERA
The Portrait, from Opera North at The Lowry
DANCE
Cinderella, from Birmingham Royal Ballet at The Lowry
SPECIAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THEATRE IN THE NORTH WEST
Braham Murray
For more details go to www.manchestertheatreawards.com
The Price - Bolton Octagon
