This year’s Manchester Theatre Awards ceremony took place at The Lowry in Salford today, with HOME picking up four awards from its 14 nominations. Hosted by Justin Moorhouse, the events brings in one room the Manchester theatre community for its annual get-together.
Heading the awards was British theatre legend Dame Janet Suzman (pictured here), who picked up the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for her portrayal of an elderly Jewish woman looking back wistfully on her eventful life in Rose, which was directed by Richard Beecham. Dame Janet’s very early theatre roles in the UK were at the old Library Theatre Company in the 1960s, which she mentioned in her acceptance speech.
Manchester actor Andrew Sheridan was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Mark in People, Places & Things, a co-production between HOME, Headlong, the National Theatre, and the Exeter Northcott, while another Manchester actor, Katie West, won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her part as Sonya in Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, which played to rave reviews last autumn.
The fourth award was picked up by Jenny Melville (set) and Lysander Ashton (video) for their innovative Design work on Paul Auster’s City of Glass, a co-production between HOME, 59 Productions, and the Lyric Hammersmith.
In addition, Narcissist in the Mirror, which was one of the highlights in our PUSH Festival earlier this year, was named Best New Play. Written by Rosie Fleeshman, the production is on its way to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Well done to all the winners and nominees; to see the full list of winners, please visit the Manchester Theatre Awards site here.