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CRITICS' AWARDS FOR THEATRE IN SCOTLAND
CATS AWARDS 2022
WINNERS & NOMINEES
The 2022 CATS winners were announced at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow on Sunday 11 September. Special guest presenter was acclaimed actor, singer and Gaelic activist, Dolina MacLennan, one of the original cast of John McGrath’s seminal The Cheviot, The Stag and Black, Black Oil..
Here are the winners and nominees for the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2022.
Image © Infinite Blue Designs
Best Male Performance
Brian Ferguson
(Narrator), White Nights
(Pitlochry Festival Theatre)
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(Pitlochry Festival Theatre)
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Keith Fleming
(Doppler), Doppler
(Grid Iron Theatre Company)
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(Grid Iron Theatre Company)
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Lorn Macdonald
(Segismundo), Life is A Dream
(Royal Lyceum Theatre)
WINNER - Best Male Performance
“In one of the landmark productions of the year that saw the return of live performance in Scotland, the Lyceum launched its 2021 autumn season with a dazzling production of Jo Clifford’s inspired 1998 version of Pedro Calderon’ Golden Age drama Life Is A Dream, specially updated for the occasion. The play offers a both breath-taking journey through the interconnected worlds of theatre, politics, philosophy, love and war, and an intensely self-reflexive drama about the power of imagination; and at the centre of Wils Wilson’s production stood – or rather leapt, crawled, prowled and soared – Lorn Macdonald’s intensely physical and charismatic performance as the Polish Prince Segismundo, who has spent his life chained like an animal in a lonely tower, and who, after his release, soon becomes convinced that life, with its dizzying reversals of fortune, is no more than an illusion.
Since he graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2015, Lorn Macdonald has fast been establishing his reputation on stage and screen as one of Scotland’s most gifted young actors; and his stunning performance, at the heart of the Lyceum’s wonderful Life Is A Dream company, fully confirmed his status as a leading actor of his generation, with a thrilling career to come.”
Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman)
Image © Ryan Buchanan
(Royal Lyceum Theatre)
WINNER - Best Male Performance
“In one of the landmark productions of the year that saw the return of live performance in Scotland, the Lyceum launched its 2021 autumn season with a dazzling production of Jo Clifford’s inspired 1998 version of Pedro Calderon’ Golden Age drama Life Is A Dream, specially updated for the occasion. The play offers a both breath-taking journey through the interconnected worlds of theatre, politics, philosophy, love and war, and an intensely self-reflexive drama about the power of imagination; and at the centre of Wils Wilson’s production stood – or rather leapt, crawled, prowled and soared – Lorn Macdonald’s intensely physical and charismatic performance as the Polish Prince Segismundo, who has spent his life chained like an animal in a lonely tower, and who, after his release, soon becomes convinced that life, with its dizzying reversals of fortune, is no more than an illusion.
Since he graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2015, Lorn Macdonald has fast been establishing his reputation on stage and screen as one of Scotland’s most gifted young actors; and his stunning performance, at the heart of the Lyceum’s wonderful Life Is A Dream company, fully confirmed his status as a leading actor of his generation, with a thrilling career to come.”
Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman)
Image © Ryan Buchanan
Alan Steele
(Prospero), The Tempest
(Bard in the Botanics)
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(Bard in the Botanics)
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Best Female Performance
Nicole Cooper
(Medea), Medea
(Bard in the Botanics)
WINNER - Best Female Performance
“Nicole Cooper gave an unforgettable performance as the wronged, powerfully human demigoddess Medea. In the intimacy of the Kibble Palace, she was, by turns, deliciously sarcastic, gloriously outraged and almost unbearably anguished, as she sought to persuade us, the audience (standing in for the people of Corinth), of the justice of her case. However, in her moments of greatest grief and anger, she turned from us, emphasising her outsider status by speaking in Greek. Her insistence – even as she contemplated the murder of her offspring – upon the unbreakable blood bond between a mother and her children still brings a shudder even now.”
Mark Brown, (Sunday National/Daily Telegraph)
Image © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
(Bard in the Botanics)
WINNER - Best Female Performance
“Nicole Cooper gave an unforgettable performance as the wronged, powerfully human demigoddess Medea. In the intimacy of the Kibble Palace, she was, by turns, deliciously sarcastic, gloriously outraged and almost unbearably anguished, as she sought to persuade us, the audience (standing in for the people of Corinth), of the justice of her case. However, in her moments of greatest grief and anger, she turned from us, emphasising her outsider status by speaking in Greek. Her insistence – even as she contemplated the murder of her offspring – upon the unbreakable blood bond between a mother and her children still brings a shudder even now.”
Mark Brown, (Sunday National/Daily Telegraph)
Image © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
Amy Molloy
(Kate), This Is Paradise
(Traverse Theatre)
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(Traverse Theatre)
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Alison Peebles
(Basilio), Life is a Dream (Royal Lyceum Theatre)
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Naomi Stirrat
(Unnamed Protagonist), Every Brilliant Thing
(An Tobar and Mull Theatre)
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(An Tobar and Mull Theatre)
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Best Ensemble
The Comedy of Errors
(Citizens Theatre)
WINNER - Best Ensemble
“There’s something special about seeing a Shakespeare production that captures the bawdy nonsense that an audience would have enjoyed in the 17th century. This fantastic bunch of actors, plus an amazing musician, did exactly that. They made light work of every mistaken identity-driven twist and turn and never forgot to make it fun.”
Anna Burnside (Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Glasgow Live)
Image © Citizens Theatre
WINNER - Best Ensemble
“There’s something special about seeing a Shakespeare production that captures the bawdy nonsense that an audience would have enjoyed in the 17th century. This fantastic bunch of actors, plus an amazing musician, did exactly that. They made light work of every mistaken identity-driven twist and turn and never forgot to make it fun.”
Anna Burnside (Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Glasgow Live)
Image © Citizens Theatre
Life is A Dream
(Royal Lyceum Theatre)
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Moorcroft
(Tron Theatre)
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Sweet FA
(This Is My Story Productions)
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Best Director
Gordon Barr
Medea
(Bard in the Botanics)
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(Bard in the Botanics)
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Elizabeth Newman
Adventures With the Painted People
(Pitlochry Festival Theatre)
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(Pitlochry Festival Theatre)
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Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir
Me and My Sister Tell Each Other Everything (Tron Theatre)
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Image ©
Wils Wilson
Life is A Dream
(Royal Lyceum Theatre)
WINNER - Best Director
“At a point when the world was emerging from lockdown, Wils Wilson bounded back with a glorious celebration of theatricality. Her staging of Jo Clifford’s version of Calderon’s Spanish Golden Age drama had tremendous fun blurring the line between the real and the imagined, not only because we had been deprived of live theatre for so long, but also because it highlighted the play’s themes of artifice and pretence. Wilson’s production was dynamically presented on the Royal Lyceum’s temporary extended stage, vigorously acted and a joy to watch.”
Mark Fisher (The Guardian)
Image © Ryan Buchanan
(Royal Lyceum Theatre)
WINNER - Best Director
“At a point when the world was emerging from lockdown, Wils Wilson bounded back with a glorious celebration of theatricality. Her staging of Jo Clifford’s version of Calderon’s Spanish Golden Age drama had tremendous fun blurring the line between the real and the imagined, not only because we had been deprived of live theatre for so long, but also because it highlighted the play’s themes of artifice and pretence. Wilson’s production was dynamically presented on the Royal Lyceum’s temporary extended stage, vigorously acted and a joy to watch.”
Mark Fisher (The Guardian)
Image © Ryan Buchanan