The CATS shortlist is now out.
Lots of good things to choose from, and of the entries I have seen, I agree with the critics by and large. Encouraging to see the Royal Lyceum back in the running, joining CATS stalwarts Dundee Rep and The Traverse.
Particularly outstanding was Roadkill, which was different, difficult and challenging and really deserves its several nominations. Also multi-nominated was Sweeny Todd from Dundee Rep, which completely justifies all of its entries – Sondheim is difficult to pull off, and this production was particularly special.
I do have a problem with the several nominations for Age of Arousal from Stellar Quines, which although stylish and well acted, was let down by its writing and direction. Good, but certainly not special enough to be award winning.
I had a similar problem with The Unconquered from the same outfit, which also won awards a few years back. So perhaps it is just me then.
But good luck to all shortlisted entries, including Age of Arousal. It has been a rich year for Scottish Theatre, and several shows must have good entries, but were pipped to the post.
Interesting to read your thoughts on the shortlist as we seem to have missed most of the shows that were recognised. Many of them just didn’t appeal at the time but I do regret not making more of an effort to see Dundee Rep’s “Sweeney Todd”. And I couldn’t agree with you more about the deserved success of “Roadkill” – I would even make a case for it being due another couple of mentions.
Blogger is currently having serious issues which has resulted in our own post about the shortlist being ‘eaten’ but it will hopefully return when they sort themselves out.