IT’S A BATTLE OF TWO CITIES IN NALEDI THEATRE AWARDS

THIS year’s Naledi Theatre Awards will be a serious battle field between two giant South African theatres.

The Market Theatre in Johannesburg and South African State Theatre in Pretoria last night dominated the Naledi awards nomination list.

The announcement took place at the Market Theatre Laboratory in Newtown, where both houses scored 30 nods each. Marikana: The Musical, staged at the State Theatre, took home a dozen nomination – making it the most nominated production of the year.

The musical is an adaptation of the book We Are Going To Kill Each Other Today, about the Marikana

massacre. The book is co-authored by Sowetan news editor Lucas Ledwaba and fellow journalists Leon Sadiki, Felix Dlangamandla and Atandiwe Saba.

The State Theatre also shone with Hungry, Mating Birds, and Reik Na Die Sterre.

Market Theatre’s leading productions to receive the nod were Pale Natives, Ukutshona KoMendi, Missing, The Shadow of a Hum- mingbird, Have You Seen Zandile, Human Being Died that Night and Ketekang.

The awards will also give local musicians such as Mackenzie Matome, Nokukhanya Dlamini, Kgafela oa Magogodi and Tshepo Mngoma a platform to shine.

Matome, a direct competitor of Mngoma, is nominated in best musical director category and best arrangement category for his con- tribution in Marikana: The Musical.

Mngoma also scored two nominations in the Best Arranger and Best Director in a Musical categories. Magogodi walked away with a single nomination for the best arrangement for Book of Rebellations production.

Dlamini once again got herself a nomination of the best female performance in a musical.