Having been to the South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas) which were held at the State Theatre a month ago and the Naledi Theatre Awards which were also held at the same venue on Sunday night, the comparison is interesting.
While there was a lot of hype around the Saftas which were recorded live for TV, coupled with the excitement on the red carpet on the day and the cheer from euphoric fans, the Naledis were the exact opposite.
They were just a gathering of theatre enthusiasts and there was a sense of gloom instead of a celebratory feeling. There was no red carpet and no fans cheering from the outside.
It was a little sad, especially for a country which produces some of the best theatre I have ever seen, theatre that the world raves about. And in the end, the world gets to keep SA talents such as Robin Orlin and Brett Bailey who work overseas.
And similar speeches about the lack of funding for theatre were repeated. This time perpetuated by the South African Ballet Theatre's desparate plea for sponsors and the threatening uncertainty facing the Dance Umbrella.
And while Mark Banks joked at the fact that the comedy category was sponsored by Nandos, one laughed along, but with a little sadness on the side.
As Ismael Mohamed who's in the Board of Directors for the Naledi's put it, "This is theatre's winter of gloom"
But the inclusion of comedians Corne and Twakkie as the MCs of the night helped balance things out as they did offer the audience some belly laughs.
Although, they're not everybody's favourite comics, certainly not Rachel Tambo's. She took a long time to get on stage to give out the lifetime achievement award to Richard Loring and they gave her a hard time about it. It was a funny and tense moment.
Other lifetime achievement wards went to Hugh Masekela and Tobie Cronje and it's fantastic that these greats are being honoured while they're still alive.
The actual awards were deserved and I was personally chuffed that the Best Costume Design went to Noluthando Lubese for Brer Rabbit. Her costumes were fun and creative.
But one had to question how Nothing But The Truth could win Best Production of a Play for the second time. The first time was about five years ago. Janice Honeyman must have had the same question in her head when she accepted the award for the second time. And she said she hoped the next time a new production preferably by a youngster would take the award.
The entrtainment highlights included the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Hugh Masekela's trumpet solo and the sneak preview from SABT's Swan Lake.
The Naledis were a bitter sweet event with questions like Does anyone care about theatre? Why doesn't this country invest on artistic talent? Is theatre a dying artform? lingering in one's mind.
But the fact that there is such an event as the Naledis means the resilience is there. Theatre will fight the good fight. And that's the spirit I walked away with.
Kgomotso