By Charles Tjatindi
WINDHOEK
The National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) yesterday announced the nominees for the 3rd Bi-Annual Namibia Theatre Awards.
The awards will honour theatre practitioners for their work during the past two years, and will culminate in a gala event on November 10 this year at which the awards will be presented.
Five of the 10 plays that have been nominated form part of the Theatre Zone project, which aims to assist theatre producers financially and technically in presenting their respective plays to the public.
The NTN has broadened the scope of the event to include independent productions for the first time, which will give more productions an opportunity to participate. The 3rd awards will also feature an award to two theatre practitioners, who will be honoured in recognition of their contribution towards the development of theatre.
The awards recognise theatre plays, which were staged during the 2006-2007 period.
Playwright Tanya Terblanche’s play Leah-B has been nominated in six of the nine categories. The play is lined up for an award for best director, best actress, best supporting role, best overall play, and public choice play.
Frederick Philander’s Katutura 59 is also in the race for a few awards, among them the best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting role, best costume, stage set and technical, best overall play, and the public choice award.
Other plays that have been nominated in more than one category are The MolePeople, also by Philander, The Bigamist, The Grave Manager, and The Case of Henry-X.
Actor Stanley van Wyk, and actress Lize Kubersky have each also been nominated in a few categories. The project is sponsored by the Embassy of Finland as its main sponsor, while a few other private and Government agencies have lent their support to the project.
The main event on November 10, which will feature prominent South African actor and comedian, Joe Mafela, will be broadcast live on NBC television.