Gemuk Girls which played at The Necessary Stage Black Box last October, was nominated for six awards, including Best Director and Best Actress. -- PHOTO: BH
GEMUK Girls was the biggest winner at this year's Life! Theatre Awards with three wins, sweeping the major awards of Best Script, Best Actor and Production Of The Year.
Resident playwright of The Necessary Stage Haresh Sharma scored a hattrick, winning Best Original Script for the third year running with his nuanced political play about the effects of separation and political detention on a mother-daughter pair. He had previously won for Fundamentally Happy in 2007 and Good People last year (2008).
Najib Soiman, who was nominated for the first time, took Best Actor for his heartbreaking role as a photographer detained without trial.
The sold out play, which played at The Necessary Stage Black Box last October, was nominated for six awards, including Best Director and Best Actress.
The ceremony was held over lunch on Monday at The White Rabbit, a restaurant in the Dempsey Area.
A surprised Sharma, 43, received the Production Of The Year Award to cheers in the audience, comprising nominees, heads of theatre companies and representatives from Singapore Press Holdings and the National Arts Council (NAC). The guest of honour was NAC chief executive Lee Suan Hiang.
He said: 'This is so overwhelming. I'm inspired by the people in this group, by everyone's kindness and generosity.' He added that the play will be restaged at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival next year.
Temple, a production by Cake Theatrical Productions, was the most nominated play with ten nods, and it walked away with three.
The experimental play about a group of people who lock themselves into a sports hall took home Best Actress for Noorlinah Mohamed, Best Sound Design for Philip Tan and Best Costume Design for Natalie Hennedige.
Li Xie won Best Director for Drama Box's House Of Sins, about a family which decides to convert their home into a vice den to warn others against committing the same sins.
The awards, now in its ninth year, honours the best and brightest in the local theatre scene. It is judged by a panel of eight judges including theatre reviewers from Life!, Lianhe Zaobao and online arts journal The Flying Inkpot.
