Edinburgh Amateurs £1000 Award 2010 Launched
By Thom Dibdin
The Edinburgh Playhouse Spotlight Award is to change emphasis for 2010, to recognise an outstanding contribution over the last 12 months in the world of Edinburgh amateur dramatics. The previous two awards have been for lifetime achievement.
Organised by the Playhouse in association with the Edinburgh Evening News, nominations for the £1000 award are made by members of the public. A winner is then chosen from a four-strong shortlist by a panel of experts.
James Haworth, the Edinburgh Playhouse’s general manager who initiated the award in 2008, said “in an effort to open up the competition to more potential winners, we have decided that the award should be in recognition of the person who has made an outstanding contribution to local amateur dramatics in the last 12 months.”
Liam Rudden, Arts Editor of the Edinburgh Evening News added: “The award isn’t about who has been responsible for the most popular show but recognising unsung company members involved in any capacity. It could go to someone who stepped in at the last minute to ensure that a production went ahead, to a choreographer, make up artist or costume designer who rose to a particularly difficult challenge. Or maybe even to someone who just kept company spirits high throughout a long Fringe run.”
Deadline for nominations for the awards is Friday 5 February. The nomination form is available on the Evening News Website and should be sent to the Edinburgh Playhouse by that date. The winner will be presented with a cheque for £1000 and a trophy inscribed with their name on the Playhouse stage before the evening performance of The Sound of Music on Wednesday 17 February.
This year’s expert panel includes Rosemary Squire, chief executive of Ambassadors Theatre Group which owns the Playhouse. She will join existing members Gordon Blackburn, Scottish Councillor of the National Operatic and Dramatic Association and Fiona Rogan, co-founder of the children’s theatre and puppet company Pandemonium Inc.
The Edinburgh Playhouse Spotlight Award was won by Douglas Currie in 2009 and Irene Beaver in 2008.
Full details of the award and how to enter are available here on the Evening News Website.
