Turbo Folk Nominated for a CATS Award

Monday, May 17, 2010

The Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland have just announced their nominations, and Alan Bissett's Turbo Folk has been nominated in the Best New Play category. The play, which was part of this Spring Season here at A Play a Pie and a Pint, has been nominated along with Hitch by Kieran Hurley (The Arches), Orphans by Dennis Kelly (The Traverse),  and Ursula Rani Sarma’s The Dark Things.

Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre leads the field in this year’s CATs Awards with ten nominations across six out of a possible ten categories.

For the first time, the shortlist also includes a show rooted in the visual arts as much as in theatre with The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME, performed as part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, nominated for Best Ensemble and Best Use of Music and Sound. Another CATS first is the addition of an all-inclusive company with Lung Ha’s nominated in the Best Ensemble category forHuxley’s Lab, a collaboration with Grid Iron.

Although theatre companies in Edinburgh and Glasgow dominate the shortlist it has also been a good year for Dundee Repertory Theatre with six nominations, while Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Perth Theatre and Fife Arts Trust have each appeared in at least one category.

Co-convenor Mark Fisher said: “It has been a bumper year for great theatre in Scotland and we were spoilt for choice when it came to making our selections. It means the 2010 shortlists represent a truly impressive range of talent, whether it is the most intimate one-person show or, as is the case with Huxley’s Lab, a production with a cast of 30. It’s sure to make for a lively ceremony on 13 June.”

The event is open to members of the public and offers a unique opportunity for audiences to come together with the cream of the Scottish theatre community and celebrate the contribution that work produced in Scotland makes to the cultural life of the country.

Tickets cost £15 (including live entertainment, entry to the awards ceremony, drinks and light refreshments) and can be purchased through the Festival Theatre box office. For further information on the CATS visit www.criticsawards.theatrescotland.com.

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• alan bissett,
• CATS awards,
• traverse,
• turbo folk