Purring CATS secure long term funding
By Thom Dibdin
The Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, known as the CATS, has secured £6,000 funding over the next three years which will put its annual awards bash on a secure footing.
The CATS are Scotland’s only national theatre awards and were set up in 2002 to celebrate the best Scottish theatre achievements in the theatre year May–April. The Eighth CATS awards will be held at the Edinbrugh Festival Theatre this June 13, with awards handed out in 10 categories.
Previous winners range from David Tennant to Cara Kelly, from Blackbird to Black Watch and from Wee Stories to the National Theatre of Scotland.
A major contribution of £3,000 over the next three years has been pledged from the Mackintosh Foundation, the charity set up by theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh to promote and develop theatrical, musical and dramatic arts.
In addition, there have been donations of £500 a year until 2012 from technical services company Northern Light, who will specifically support the award for Best Technical Production, and advertising and design agency Guy Robertson Partnership, who will sponsor the award for Best Actor. The ceremony will also be sponsored by catering company Appetite Direct and arts and entertainments publication The List.
Co-convenor of the CATS Awards, Joyce McMillan, said: “We are delighted to have the support of the Mackintosh Foundation, which will put the future of the CATS awards on a much more secure footing. The aims of the Foundation in promoting and encouraging theatre coincide exactly with those of the awards, and we are thrilled to be associated with the Foundation in this way.”
The awards ceremony 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 to help celebrate the contribution that the 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 is available on their website here.
ENDS
