For press enquiries about the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland, please contact Lesley Booth, 0779 941 4474 / lesley@newcenturypr.com
12 June 2019 The Herald
Ian Brown on his Lost at Sea award: It’s a play about the life and death of a community
WHEN Ian Brown was named as this year’s best director at last weekend’s Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland for his production of Morna Young’s play, Lost at Sea, at Perth Theatre, it was vindication of sorts for his first work in Scotland for more than 20 years. The former artistic director of the Traverse Theatre and TAG, who went on to run West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds for a decade, was also in with some very good company.
12 June 2019 Perth Theatre
Major theatre awards spawn extension of fishing exhibition
PERTH Theatre’s success at the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) has led to the extension of Corey Arnold’s Fish-Work exhibition in the venue’s Threshold artspace. Perth Theatre and Morna Young’s production of Lost at Sea netted the Best Director award for Ian Brown with the eight-strong cast winning Best Ensemble at the CATS on Sunday 9 June.
11 June 2019 Perthshire Advertiser
Delight as fishing drama nets award
IAN Brown was named best director and the cast won best ensemble at the annual CATS Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland, presented in Glasgow
9 June 2019 All Edinburgh Theatre
Traverse wins big at CATS
Edinburgh’s Traverse theatre has scooped three wins at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland for David Ireland’s Ulster American, with a fourth for the A Play, A Pie and A Pint production of The Mack. Lucianne McEvoy won the best female performance award for her role as Ruth in Ulster American, writer David Ireland took the best new play award while the play was judged overall Best Production. John Michie won best male performance award for his turn as Fireman in The Mack.
9 June 2019 The Stage
Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2019: the winners in full
The Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland took place at the Tramway in Glasgow on June 9. Here are the winners in full:
9 June 2019 The Scotsman
John Michie performance and Tam Dean Burn play honoured at Scottish theatre awards
TAGGART and Holby City star John Michie has been honoured for his moving portrayal of a traumatised fire chief – in a return to the stage weeks after his daughter’s boyfriend was jailed for causing her drug-related death at a music festival.The 62-year-old was recognised for the best male performance at Scotland’s annual theatre Oscars for his role as a haunted fire service chief in a new play inspired by the two devastating fires at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Glasgow School of Art building.
9 June 2019 The Herald
Ulster American triumphs at theatre awards, while John Michie wins award for play inspired by GSA fires
A YEAR after the second disastrous fire at Glasgow School of Art, the Scottish actor John Michie has been awarded a prestigious theatrical prize for a play inspired by the fate of the Mackintosh Building. The Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) awarded Michie the prize for best male performance in The Mack, while the Traverse Theatre’s play Ulster American, written by David Ireland, won three awards, including the Best Production.
8 June 2019 The Herald
Giles Havergal: ‘There seems to be so many exciting things going on in Scottish theatre’
GILES Havergal has always been the perfect host. During his 30-odd year tenure as co-artistic director of the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, Havergal would be there in the foyer on each opening night, meeting and greeting with an old school charm that came to define the Gorbals-based emporium. While many directors prefer to duck out of view, only meeting their public once the first night stresses have subsided, in contrast, Havergal seemed joyously unfazed by such things. Only when he was acting in a show was he absent from his task.
18 May 2019 The National
Birds of Paradise flying high in critics’ award shortlist
THE country’s only professional disability-led arts organisation tops the shortlists for the annual Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS). Birds of Paradise is shortlisted in six award categories for My Left Right Foot – The Musical including best ensemble, best production and best director for Robert Softley Gale. The company had its three-year funding withdrawn by Creative Scotland early in 2018 and it was only restored after a public outcry.
15 May 2019 Evening Telegraph
Dundee Rep actress Irene nominated for Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland
Dundee Rep actress Irene Macdougall has been nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Kate Keller in All My Sons in the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (Cats) 2019. The Rep is also nominated in the Best Design category for The Dark Carnival, a Vanishing Point production that was presented in partnership with The Rep. Perth Theatre at Horsecross is in the running for four awards thanks to Ian Brown’s production of Morna Young’s Lost at Sea. It is nominated for best ensemble, best director, best design and best use of sound and music.
14 May 2019 Fringe Review
CATS … Am I a dog man?
Award season is rife for most of the arts and we have BAFTA things going on the TV. It’s exciting for people and not to be outdone, Scottish theatre have their own awards night and ceremony for the “best” in Scottish theatre coming up soon. I have best in italics for a simple reason. The people who are on the panel are fantastic people. They get to see a lot of theatre and I am sure the vast majority of performances that have happened on Scotland have been seen by at least one, if not two, of them. But can they be sure that they have seen everything?
14 May 2019 Edinburgh Guide
2019 Theatre Critics Awards Shortlists Announced
The nominations for the 2019 Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland have been announced, and it has been an incredible year. Sweeping up 11 nominations across four different productions, the Traverse Theatre has made a considerable mark on the community this year with uproarious Ulster American, engrossing Mouthpiece, rousing What Girls Are Made Of, and poignant The Mack.
13 May 2019 The Press and Journal
North-east play to continue Scottish tour in Inverness
Lost at Sea, which was at His Majesty’s Theatre, will head to the Highland capital’s Empire Theatre from Thursday to Saturday. Morna Young’s fishing drama has landed four nominations in the prestigious Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS). The production is up for Best Ensemble, Best Director for Ian Brown, Best Design for Karen Tennent and Katharine Williams, and Best Music and Sound for Pippa Murphy.
12 May 2019 The National
Scottish musical version of classic Day Lewis film leads award list
A SATIRICAL musical by Scotland’s leading disability-led theatre company tops the nominations in this year’s Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS). My Left/Right Foot – The Musical, which is co-produced by Birds of Paradise (BoP) and the National Theatre of Scotland, has received no fewer than six nominations for the 2019 edition of the prestigious, annual awards. The musical is a boldly comic, raucously politically incorrect broadside against Jim Sheridan’s 1989 film My Left Foot.
10 May 2019 The Herald
Scotland’s theatre awards as short lists revealed
ONE of Scotland’s leading disabled theatre companies, Birds of Paradise, is among the leading companies in the short lists for the nation’s theatre awards. My Left Foot Right Foot – The Musical is in the running for six Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS), a year after it was stripped of funding in the controversial Creative Scotland funding row of last year.
10 May 2019 National Theatre of Scotland
My Left/Right Foot dominates 2019 CATS nominations
My Left Right Foot: The Musical, Birds of Paradise and the National Theatre of Scotland’s hilariously subversive stage collaboration, has picked up a string of nominations at the 2019 Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland. The show has been shortlisted across six categories, making it the most-nominated single production at this year’s CATS awards. The nominations include a Best Director nomination for Robert Softley Gale. The show has also been shortlisted for Best Technical Presentation, Best Ensemble, Best Music & Sound, Best New Play, and Best Production.
10 May 2019 Traverse Theatre
Traverse Theatre Company scoops ten CATS nominations across three productions
We are thrilled to be able to reveal that the Traverse Theatre Company is the top nominated Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) company for 2019 – scooping ten nominations across three productions.
10 May 2019 The Courier
Dundee Rep and Perth Theatre in the running for critics’ awards
Dundee Rep actress Irene Macdougall has been nominated for one of Scotland’s most prestigious theatre awards. The Ensemble actress has been nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Kate Keller in All My Sons in the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (Cats) 2019. The Rep is also nominated in the Best Design category for The Dark Carnival, a Vanishing Point production that was presented in partnership with The Rep.
10 May 2019 The Scotsman
Joyce McMillan: Traverse dominates shortlists for Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland
When Scotland’s theatre critics gathered at the Festival Theatre last weekend to hammer out the shortlists for this year Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) – ten shortlists of four, over categories ranging from Best Music and Sound to Best Show of The Year – discussion raged as fiercely as ever. There were almost 160 professional shows made in Scotland over the past year on the long list of eligible productions, and the number of actors, writers, directors, designers, music-makers and technical staff involved must have been close to a thousand.
10 May 2019 British Theatre Guide
CATS 2019 shortlist announced
The shortlist has been announced for the 2019 Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland, with production My Left Right Foot – The Musical and venue Traverse Theatre leading the nominations with 6 and 11 mentions respectively. My Left Right Foot – The Musical was co-produced by National Theatre of Scotland and Birds of Paradise, the latter having had its funding restored after a public outcry following the decision of Creative Scotland to withdraw it.
10 May 2019 The Stage
Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland: the nominations in full
My Left/Right Foot – the Musical leads the nominations for this year’s Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland with six nods. Seventeen different productions are nominated across 10 categories. The most nominated company is Edinburgh’s Traverse, which has 11 nods for a total of four different productions. The winners will be announced on Sunday, June 9 at Tramway in Glasgow.
10 May 2019 All Edinburgh Theatre
Trav tops CATS noms
The short list of nominations for the 2018/2019 Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland have been announced with the Traverse involved in over a quarter of the total nominations. The Critics nominate four productions in each of ten categories, making a total of 40 nominations. This year, these are shared between 17 different productions – of which nine getting nods in just one category.