For press enquiries about the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland, please contact Lesley Booth, 0779 941 4474 / lesley@newcenturypr.com
17 November 2020 Daily Record
Dramatic direction is the CATS whiskers for PFT’s Elizabeth Newman
Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s artistic director has been hailed for her talents by receiving a prestigious accolade. Elizabeth Newman clinched the award for best director in the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) awards on Thursday, November 12. She was recognised for her outstanding direction of Brian Friel’s ‘Faith Healer’, the 2019 autumn production at the Theatre in the Hills, and an acclaimed tour across the Highlands and Islands in partnership with Eden Court theatre, Inverness. Elizabeth’s win was one of five Pitlochry nominations this year, including three more for Faith Healer
16 November 2020 Heartland Multimedia
Elizabeth Newman Wins Director of the Year
Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s artistic director, Elizabeth Newman, has won a prestigious award in the arts as best director. Her winning nomination is a part of five others entered into the competition on behalf of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre to the Critics’ Awards for Theatre.
16 November 2020 The Scotsman
CATS Awards point to a bright future for Scottish theatre
It was a rich old week in Scottish theatre, the week of 9 March 2020; the one before the Prime Minister warned people in Britain against going to places of public entertainment, and Scotland’s playhouses closed their doors indefinitely. That week there were two major press nights at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow, of Theatre Gu Leor’s memorable call to arms Maim, about the need to resist growing threats to the landscape and language of Scotland’s Western Isles, and of Vanishing Point Theatre’s wonderful 2020 version of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Then on Saturday 14th, I travelled to Pitlochry, for what turned out to be a farewell evening, watching the Pitlochry-Lyceum co-production of Barefoot In The Park, starring Clare Grogan and Jessica Hardwick, that should have toured on to Edinburgh in April.
15 November 2020 British Theatre Guide
Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland
The 2020 Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland were announced on Thursday. The big winner was The Signalman which claimed the award for Best Male Performance for Tom McGovern, Best New Play for writer Peter Arnott and Best Production. Ken Alexander had also been nominated for Best Director. In response to the award, Peter Arnott took the opportunity to call for a radical shakeup of the arts. Speaking of the unknown challenges ahead and his vision of a new framework for the arts going forward he said, “we’re in much deeper trouble than we know and COVID is just the start of it…
15 November 2020 The National
Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland: Awards announced for Covid-hit sector
The winners of the annual Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) have been announced. Prevented by the Covid-19 pandemic from celebrating the nominated shows with their traditional awards ceremony, the judges released the list of victors to the media on Thursday. The awards, judged this year by eight of Scotland’s drama critics, considered all professional theatre shows produced in Scotland between the summer of 2019 and the closure of theatres by the pandemic last March. The biggest winner, picking up the prizes for Best New Play, Best Male Performance and Best Production, was the one-man show The Signalman, produced by the lunchtime theatre A Play, a Pie and a Pint at Glasgow venue Òran Mór.
15 November 2020 The National
Why I sat out of judging the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland this year
The Covid-19 pandemic has taken, and continues to take, a devastating toll on our society. In the grand scheme of things, when or even whether there was an announcement of the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland was a relatively minor matter. Nevertheless, with dozens of shows in the 2019-20 season to consider, the critics had to decide what to do about their annual awards.
13 November 2020 Glasgow Live
Glasgow theatres celebrate major wins at 2020 Critics Awards showing ‘richness’ of Scotland’s industry
Glasgow’s theatres have scooped a number of major wins at the 2020 Critics Awards, despite the industry being decimated by the coronavirus pandemic. The Oran Mor’s production of The Signalman won Best New Play, Best Production Awards and Best Male Performance for the character the signalman recalling the night of the famous Tay Bridge disaster, written by Peter Arnott and played by Tom McGovern.
12 November 2020 Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Pitlochry’s Elizabeth Newman wins Best Director award
Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director, Elizabeth Newman has won the award for Best Director, as announced in the prestigious Critics’Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) awards today, Thursday, 12 November, for her direction of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, the 2019 Autumn production at the Theatre in the Hills, and an acclaimed tour across the Highlands and Islands in partnership with Eden Court theatre, Inverness.
12 November 2020 National Theatre of Scotland
CATS Awards Success for National Theatre of Scotland
The National Theatre of Scotland is today celebrating success at the 2020 Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS), with three wins from six nominations. The annual awards, which had been delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, celebrate the best of Scottish theatre achievements going back to May 2019, with the awards announced online today.
12 November 2020 BBC Radio Scotland Afternoon Show
The Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) and Film Reviews
Grant hears about the highlights from the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) with Columnist and theatre critic Joyce McMillan and from one of the big winners …
12 November 2020 All Edinburgh Theatre
Edinburgh’s CATS credits
This year’s delayed Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland have been announced, with Edinburgh associations for 20 of the 41 nominations and winners in seven of the ten categories. The CATS have been delayed by five months due to Covid-19, with the judges making several unprecedented decisions, including to announce the shortlist of nominees and the winners at the same time.
12 November 2020 The Stage
Playwright Peter Arnott: Theatre needs upending if it is to survive
Award-winning playwright Peter Arnott has warned that the theatre industry is in much “deeper trouble” than it realises because of the pandemic. Arnott won best new play award at the delayed Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland this week and said only radical solutions would allow theatre to return its pre-Covid-19 state. He said the entire sector would need “reinventing”.
12 November 2020 The Stage
Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2020: the nominees and winners in full
The Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland has announced the winners for its 18th year of awards, together with the nominees, five months later than scheduled due to Covid-19. Leading the winners is The Signalman, Peter’s Arnott’s monologue about the Tay Bridge disaster produced by A Play, a Pie and a Pint, with three awards from four nominations. The play won best overall production as well as best new play for Arnott and best male actor for Tom McGovern, with Arnott missing out on best direction.
12 November 2020 The Scotsman
Tay Bridge disaster play claims top honours in Scottish theatre Oscars
Winners the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland have been announced despite the shutdown of venues across the country since March. Productions going as far back as May 2019 were eligible for the awards, which were launched 17 years ago.
12 November Edinburgh Guide
Edinburgh Theatre Scoops Five Awards in 2020 CATS
Despite 2020 being the darkest year for theatre since the 17th century, the 18th annual Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) has “remained aware of the tremendous year of work,“comments CATS co-convenor and Scotsman theatre critic Joyce McMillan. Though the awards are announced at a time when performing in front of a live audience is virtually impossible, Scottish theatre has kept the art form alive through virtual performances, innovative public interventions and sheer will and heart.