58th Fleur du Cap Awards crown theatre’s best

Fleur du Cap winners. Picture: Jeffrey Abrahams

Fleur du Cap winners. Picture: Jeffrey Abrahams

Published Mar 27, 2023

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Mzansi’s theatre A-listers gathered at the Oude Libertas Amphitheatre in Stellenbosch on Sunday, March 26, for the 58th Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards.

The event was one of many celebrating World Theatre Day globally on March 27.

“Contested Bodies”, produced by Abrahamse and Meyer Productions, scooped the most awards after bagging 16 nominations.

For the evening, they won Best Director (Fred Abrahamse), Best Costume Design (Marcel Meyer) and the cast of Matthew Baldwin, Lungile Lallie and Marcel Meyer were acknowledged for Best Performance by an Ensemble.

Carlo Daniels won two awards in the category Best New Director for his production “No Complaints – New Day, New Dawn” and Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Play in “The Unlikely Secret Agent”.

Daniels said: “I didn’t expect this double award. This one is special to me, to have the chance to make theatre, be given a budget and to be able to get young actors and have your own set designer is amazing.”

The evening, hosted by Africa Melane, got off to an emotional start for many as heartfelt tributes went out in the award speeches along with a special video clip in memory of those in the arts who died in the last year.

David Kramer was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. Kramer was honoured for his immeasurable contribution to the arts and entertainment industry as a national and internationally renowned artist, singer, songwriter, guitarist, creator and producer of iconic musical theatre production and an archivist of South African music and stories.

David Kramer. Picture: Jeffrey Abrahams

Kramer thanked his father, who bought him his first guitar when he was 11 years old.

The highly emotional Kramer said: “Sixty years ago my father brought home a guitar he bought at the furniture shop. I was 11 years old. That guitar in my hands at that age changed my life.

That’s the reason I’m standing here today, I thank my father for doing that.“

He also paid tribute to his partner in theatre, Taliep Petersen, who was murdered in his Athlone home in 2006.

Kramer said: “We had a wonderful time together and wrote wonderful musicals together until he was tragically murdered.”

The award for Best Performance by a Lead Actor was a bitter-sweet moment when the late Mncedisi Shabangu was announced as the winner for his portrayal of Zacharia in Athol Fugard’s play “Blood Knot”.

His name was one of the many who featured in the memorial section of the programme.

Mwenya Kabwe won the award for the Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Play for her role as Rosa Feigel in “Hold Still”, which also earned acclaim as the Best New South African script for writer Nadia Davids.

JM Coetzee’s “Life & Times of Michael K”, adapted for the stage by Lara Foot, a joint production between the Baxter Theatre, Theater der Welt in Düsseldorf and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, took home the coveted Best Production Award.

The Mozart opera “Le Nozze di Figaro” made a clean sweep with Conroy Scott and Brittany Smith garnering the awards for the Best Performances in the male and female categories in an opera, respectively.

Mikayla Joy Brown of Stellenbosch University won the Most Promising Student Award, richly deserved as her production debuts on the festival circuit later this year.

Peter Cazalet also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his vast contribution to the national and international arts and entertainment industry, initially as a ballet dancer and subsequently as an award-winning set and costume designer and Capab’s head of design.

His enduring and captivating stage designs set a high standard and are still admired and used in current productions, most recently in “Cinderella”.

Judges on the panel included Africa Melane (chairperson), Dr Beverley Brommert, Hadley Tituss, Dr Lwando Scott, Mariana Malan, Marina Griebenow, Tracey Saunders and Dr Wayne Muller.

The panel expressed their delight at the calibre of theatre on stages during the year. Last year (2022) was a difficult year for the sector as it emerged from the most devastating period in South Africa’s theatre history.

The number of eligible productions, 71 in total, returned to pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating once again the resilience of our theatre makers.

Cape Town and surrounds were gifted with performances which were frequently immersive, often bold, at times breathtaking and, when most needed, very funny, while always evoking an array of complex emotions from audiences.

Winners of the 58th Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards are:

AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING STUDENT

Mikayla Joy Brown – University of Stellenbosch/Honours

BEST NEW SOUTH AFRICAN SCRIPT

Nadia Davids – “Hold Still”

BEST NEW DIRECTOR

Carlo Daniels – “No Complaints – New Day, New Dawn”

BEST THEATRE PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Marinda Engelbrecht and Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck – “Vlooi en die geheim” (Kipper and the Secret)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE

Marcel Meyer, Matthew Baldwin and Lungile Lallie – “Contested Bodies” – Doctor James Barry, Lord Charles Somerset and John Nobody

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A REVUE, CABARET OR ONE-PERSON SHOW

Daniel Newton – “Shadow Boxing” – Flynn

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

Earl Gregory – “Star+Crossed” – Billy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

Isabella Jane – “Star+Crossed” – Bess

BEST PUPPETRY DESIGN

Adrian Kohler – Handspring Puppet Company – “Life and Times of Michael K”

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

Gideon Lombard – “Karatara”

BEST SET DESIGN

Greg King – “Fordsburg’s Finest”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Marcel Meyer – “Contested Bodies”

BEST SOUND DESIGN, ORIGINAL MUSIC, SOUNDSCAPE OR LIVE PERFORMANCE

Gideon Lombard – “Karatara” – Sound design

BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERA – MALE

Conroy Scott – “Le Nozze di Figaro” – Figaro

BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERA – FEMALE

Brittany Smith – “Le Nozze di Figaro” – Susanna

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY

Carlo Daniels – “The Unlikely Secret Agent” – Various roles

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Berenice Barbier – “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” – Honey

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Mwenya Kabwe – “Hold Still” – Rosa Feigel

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTOR IN A PLAY

Mncedisi Shabangu – “Blood Knot” – Zacharia

BEST DIRECTOR

Fred Abrahamse – “Contested Bodies”

BEST PRODUCTION

Baxter Theatre Centre; Theater der Welt, Düsseldorf; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg – “Life and Times of Michael K”