Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen. On behalf of the board members of the Naledi’s, our executive director and our sponsors – Welcome to the 8th annual Naledi Theatre Awards.
Master of ceremonies, Ladies and Gentlemen I believe that the Naledi’s board members would wish me to say at the outset that the Naledi’s continue to exist in large measure because of the tireless efforts, tenacity and exuberant determination of Dawn Lindberg and Des Lindberg. May we by means of encouragement give them both a round of applause and our heartfelt thanks.
I would like to welcome all present here tonight in particular our nominees who, in each category have over the last year exhibited creative excellence as practitioners of South African theatre in all fields.
From playwrights, producers, directors, choreographers, actors and actresses, to set designers, costume designers as well as lighting and sound designers – congratulations and welcome. We gather here tonight to celebrate your collective and collaborative ingenuity as you continue to enrich our lives and nations culture.
I would also like to welcome our judges, who have attended, assessed and adjudicated so many productions during 2010. They are all lovers of theatre and their informed, unbiased perspective is essential in the Naledi’s desire to highlight and reward those productions and people who make us proud of South African Theatre and proud to be South African.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Athol Fugard in referring to a play called Still Life, written by Emily Mann and produced at the Market in 1983 by the late gentle giant of South African Theatre Barney Simon relays how Barney spoke to him about the play and used the word TESTIMONY several times.
Athol made him check its dictionary definition: It means TO BEAR WITNESS. Athol described the phrase “TO BEAR WITNESS” as “A perfect definition of the challenge South African theatre faces at this moment in our country’s history.”
Barney was right, Athol was right, they did not mean that South African theatre should bear witness to our times as a cold reportage of the facts; rather what Barney and Athol were insinuating is that theatre’s role in society is not to tell us merely what is happening or has happened, the news and newspapers do that well enough. They were saying that the theatres role is to tell us how it felt and what it meant to be ordinary people in extraordinary times. That was in 1983, today in 2011, in post apartheid South Africa, the need to bear witness is still as great. The need to tell the stories of the past, present and future through live theatre is ever-present.
Watching the news and seeing the incredible events taking place in North Africa and the Middle East, one wonders how their playwrights and artists will remould and tell the stories of their times to their people and the world tomorrow. Because with the unleashing of liberty, freedom of speech, freedom to dissent and freedom of assembly, they will soon have the freedom to express themselves and in so doing – they will bear witness to the momentous events taking place in a way only theatre can.
The hard facts of their struggles today will be distilled by their playwrights into their nation’s cultural heritage. I have no doubt that the new season of liberty will inspire in North Africa and the Middle East a cultural Renaissance in which theatre will take its place as one of the best performance tools in a people’s cultural arsenal.
Equally I have no doubt that in their plays they will speak of their agonies and triumphs, about what it meant and what it felt like to be oppressed. With the use of drama, song, satire, laughter and tears, they will take their audiences on journeys that display the best and worst aspects of the human condition. I’m sure you will support me when I say we wish them freedom and we wish them theatre.
In South Africa we are fortunate indeed to have had in the past, the present and in the future, playwrights, producers, directors and performers who in succeeding generations have staged works of national and international repute and acclamation.
As theatre practitioners you are the interpreters of our times, our mass cultures and our most intimate moments. You give us character. You provoke, ridicule, challenge, educate and inspire. You create introspection and deep social observation. You are creators of social text in a way television can never be! And in your testimony, as you bear witness to our times with your individual ingenuity, you define us and our era.
The Naledi’s, Ladies and Gentlemen exists to salute you and recommend your work to public inspection and perusal - to promote theatre as popular entertainment and to promote the social practice of theatre going itself so that more South Africans will understand the emotional fulfilment one experiences as one leaves the theatre, or the lure of live entertainment.
How a great play can provide us with such psychological and physical pleasure and become part of our personal culture and identity.
How Theatre is both social activity for the audience and yet a precious art that lives beyond the run of the play and beyond production and consumption, to take its place in the annals of human endeavour.
Our goal as the Naledi’s is therefore to increase the number and variety of bums on theatre seats by drawing the nation’s attention to the diamonds of our theatre industry – our shining stars. This is made possible because of the power of your prose, the passion of your performances, the wonderful and often hilarious expression of your minds, bodies and souls.
We wish as the Naledi’s Ladies and Gentlemen, to call on both government and the private sector to subsidize, fund and cherish this vital national asset as an essential part of South Africa’s unique cultural legacy and heritage.
Subsidy in theatre is the organic fertilizer essential to its growth since the dawn of film and television. It is only through subsidy that developmental theatre, community theatre and rural theatre can blossom. It is through subsidy and enlightened private sector funding that we will discover across the length and breadth of our country the jewels, the precious stones that will light up the stages of tomorrow.
Master of Ceremonies, Ladies and Gentlemen, if we want the South African Theatre Industry to honour its past, sustain its present and nurture the theatre practitioners of the future, if we want it to be a truly united instrument of our national culture we must as a nation celebrate, support, subsidize and promote South African Theatre as never before, so that it may continue to give testimony – So that you, our theatre practitioners, the flowers of our nation, may continue to bear witness!
Have a very good evening and Welcome to the Naledi’s!
Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen. On behalf of the board members of the Naledi’s, our executive director and our sponsors – Welcome to the 8th annual Naledi Theatre Awards.
Master of ceremonies, Ladies and Gentlemen I believe that the Naledi’s board members would wish me to say at the outset that the Naledi’s continue to exist in large measure because of the tireless efforts, tenacity and exuberant determination of Dawn Lindberg and Des Lindberg. May we by means of encouragement give them both a round of applause and our heartfelt thanks.
I would like to welcome all present here tonight in particular our nominees who, in each category have over the last year exhibited creative excellence as practitioners of South African theatre in all fields.
From playwrights, producers, directors, choreographers, actors and actresses, to set designers, costume designers as well as lighting and sound designers – congratulations and welcome. We gather here tonight to celebrate your collective and collaborative ingenuity as you continue to enrich our lives and nations culture.
I would also like to welcome our judges, who have attended, assessed and adjudicated so many productions during 2010. They are all lovers of theatre and their informed, unbiased perspective is essential in the Naledi’s desire to highlight and reward those productions and people who make us proud of South African Theatre and proud to be South African.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Athol Fugard in referring to a play called Still Life, written by Emily Mann and produced at the Market in 1983 by the late gentle giant of South African Theatre Barney Simon relays how Barney spoke to him about the play and used the word TESTIMONY several times.
Athol made him check its dictionary definition: It means TO BEAR WITNESS. Athol described the phrase “TO BEAR WITNESS” as “A perfect definition of the challenge South African theatre faces at this moment in our country’s history.”
Barney was right, Athol was right, they did not mean that South African theatre should bear witness to our times as a cold reportage of the facts; rather what Barney and Athol were insinuating is that theatre’s role in society is not to tell us merely what is happening or has happened, the news and newspapers do that well enough. They were saying that the theatres role is to tell us how it felt and what it meant to be ordinary people in extraordinary times. That was in 1983, today in 2011, in post apartheid South Africa, the need to bear witness is still as great. The need to tell the stories of the past, present and future through live theatre is ever-present.
Watching the news and seeing the incredible events taking place in North Africa and the Middle East, one wonders how their playwrights and artists will remould and tell the stories of their times to their people and the world tomorrow. Because with the unleashing of liberty, freedom of speech, freedom to dissent and freedom of assembly, they will soon have the freedom to express themselves and in so doing – they will bear witness to the momentous events taking place in a way only theatre can.
The hard facts of their struggles today will be distilled by their playwrights into their nation’s cultural heritage. I have no doubt that the new season of liberty will inspire in North Africa and the Middle East a cultural Renaissance in which theatre will take its place as one of the best performance tools in a people’s cultural arsenal.
Equally I have no doubt that in their plays they will speak of their agonies and triumphs, about what it meant and what it felt like to be oppressed. With the use of drama, song, satire, laughter and tears, they will take their audiences on journeys that display the best and worst aspects of the human condition. I’m sure you will support me when I say we wish them freedom and we wish them theatre.
In South Africa we are fortunate indeed to have had in the past, the present and in the future, playwrights, producers, directors and performers who in succeeding generations have staged works of national and international repute and acclamation.
As theatre practitioners you are the interpreters of our times, our mass cultures and our most intimate moments. You give us character. You provoke, ridicule, challenge, educate and inspire. You create introspection and deep social observation. You are creators of social text in a way television can never be! And in your testimony, as you bear witness to our times with your individual ingenuity, you define us and our era.
The Naledi’s, Ladies and Gentlemen exists to salute you and recommend your work to public inspection and perusal - to promote theatre as popular entertainment and to promote the social practice of theatre going itself so that more South Africans will understand the emotional fulfilment one experiences as one leaves the theatre, or the lure of live entertainment.
How a great play can provide us with such psychological and physical pleasure and become part of our personal culture and identity.
How Theatre is both social activity for the audience and yet a precious art that lives beyond the run of the play and beyond production and consumption, to take its place in the annals of human endeavour.
Our goal as the Naledi’s is therefore to increase the number and variety of bums on theatre seats by drawing the nation’s attention to the diamonds of our theatre industry – our shining stars. This is made possible because of the power of your prose, the passion of your performances, the wonderful and often hilarious expression of your minds, bodies and souls.
We wish as the Naledi’s Ladies and Gentlemen, to call on both government and the private sector to subsidize, fund and cherish this vital national asset as an essential part of South Africa’s unique cultural legacy and heritage.
Subsidy in theatre is the organic fertilizer essential to its growth since the dawn of film and television. It is only through subsidy that developmental theatre, community theatre and rural theatre can blossom. It is through subsidy and enlightened private sector funding that we will discover across the length and breadth of our country the jewels, the precious stones that will light up the stages of tomorrow.
Master of Ceremonies, Ladies and Gentlemen, if we want the South African Theatre Industry to honour its past, sustain its present and nurture the theatre practitioners of the future, if we want it to be a truly united instrument of our national culture we must as a nation celebrate, support, subsidize and promote South African Theatre as never before, so that it may continue to give testimony – So that you, our theatre practitioners, the flowers of our nation, may continue to bear witness!
Have a very good evening and Welcome to the Naledi’s!
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Do you believe that you have what it takes to be a dynamic and exciting MC? Then be sure to audition for the role of MC at this year’s prestigious ACT DALRO Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarships Final. 
Young presenters, performers and entertainers who are interested in presenting the Scholarships Final will have an opportunity to audition on July 3rd at the space.com venue at the Joburg Theatre Complex. Six finalists will have the opportunity to showcase their acting, dancing and singing abilities to a live audience and an independent panel of judges as they compete for the Scholarships, and their performances will appear within the format of a variety performance, seamlessly knitted together by a dynamic presenter – who could just be you… 
“What makes the Scholarship Programme so special is that it has numerous development qualities, and this year we are incredibly excited that we can nurture a future presenter through our Scholarship Presenter Search.” says Nomalanga Nkosi, Programmes Manager of ACT. “In keeping with the spirit of the programme, young individuals under the age of 23 are encouraged to audition,” she continues. At the Final, the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) in partnership with the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) and Nedbank Arts Affinity awards two performing arts scholarships to the value of R 105,000 each. The ACT Scholarships Programme is funded by DALRO and Nedbank Arts Affinity. The Final, generously hosted by Gold Reef City, will take place at the Globe Theatre on October 4th. The programme is supported by Sleepy Gecko Guesthouse, Talent Etc. and Classicfeel Magazine. Don’t delay Schedule your audition today by sending an e-mail to Deidre Schoeman at deidre@act.org.za or contact 011 712 8403. Then simply turn up on July 3rd, with the sole aim of being impressive! For more information about the ACT DALRO Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarship or to download a registration form and guidelines for participation, please visit the ACT website at www.act.org.za About the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) is South Africa’s premier independent arts funding and development agency. The primary aim of ACT is to increase the amount of funding available for arts and culture initiatives, and to apply these funds to innovative, sustainable projects that make a meaningful contribution to society. Structured ACT funding programmes support projects that contribute to improving the quality of life in communities where it is most glaringly needed. In tandem with this, ACT supports innovative projects which renew and advance the arts in South Africa. In all these endeavours, ACT covers the broad spectrum of the arts, ranging from grassroots and community-based projects to professional initiatives. Go to www.act.org.za for more information about ACT, its funding programmes, criteria for assessment, and submission of applications online. About the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) DALRO is a multi-purpose copyright society administering various aspects of copyright on behalf of authors and publishers. DALRO’s main areas of administration are reprographic reproduction rights (photocopying from published editions), public performance rights (including stage rights for book musicals and dramas) and reproduction rights (whether for publishing or copying) in works of visual art. For more information please visit www.dalro.co.za About Nedbank Nedbank is a Founding Trustee of the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT). The Nedbank Arts Affinity programme was started in 1994, and comprises a suite of banking products including credit cards, savings accounts, current accounts and the recently launched investment accounts. Whenever a client uses an ‘Arts Affinity’ banking product, Nedbank makes a donation to ACT on behalf of, and at no cost to, the client. One of four multi-award winning programmes, the Nedbank Affinity programme has raised over R140 million for arts and culture, sport development, helping needy children, and the environment. Support ACT by opening a Nedbank Arts Affinity current account, credit card account, savings account and/or investment account today and support South African creativity through your everyday banking. Visit any Nedbank branch, call 0860 DO GOOD (0860 36 4663), or for more information, visit www.nedbankarts.co.za
