Winners of the Third National Theatre Award Named

The winners of the third republican theatre art contest "National Theatre Award" were announced on the evening of November 30 at a ceremony held at the Yanka Kupala National Academic Theatre, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

Announcing the winner in the "Best Children's Performance" nomination, the renowned children's writer Vladimir Lipsky noted that doing good for children is a sacred cause. He was pleased to announce the winner of the "Best Children's Performance" title – "The Snow Queen" by H.C. Andersen, staged by the Drama Theatre of the Belarusian Army. Actress Marina Denisova received the award for "Best Acting Performance in a Children's Play" for her role in this production. Alexander Yanushkevich became the recipient of the "Best Directing in a Children's Play" award for his productions of "The Kid and Carlson, Who Lives on the Roof" by A. Lindgren at the Belarusian State Puppet Theatre and "Scraps in the Alleyways" by G. Oster at the Minsk Regional Puppet Theatre "Batleyka".

In the "Best Musical Theatre Performance" nomination, there was no alternative to the laurels of the best, and the award went to the production "Sofia Golshanskaya" by V. Kondrusevich of the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theatre. Anton Zayanchkovsky received the title of "Best Acting Performance in a Musical Theatre Performance" for his portrayal of Yagailo in this production. The award for "Best Directing in a Musical Theatre Performance" was presented to Mikhail Kovalchik, the set designer for the musical "Sofia Golshanskaya".

The jury named "The Boat of Despair" by V. Korotkevich, staged by the Belarusian State Puppet Theatre, as the "Best Puppet Theatre Performance". Actor Dmitry Rachkovsky received the title of "Best Acting Performance in a Puppet Theatre Performance" for his role as Gervasius in this production. However, the panel of professional judges also named Vladimir Tevosyan as the best puppet theatre actor for his role as Boris Godunov in the production "The Imposter" by the Brest Regional Puppet Theatre. The jury's votes in this nomination were split equally.

The award for "Best Directing in a Puppet Theatre Performance" went to Alexey Lelyavsky for two works: the performance "Ladz'ya Rospachy" by V. Korotkevich of the Belarusian State Puppet Theatre and "The Impostor" based on A. Pushkin of the Brest Regional Puppet Theatre.

The uncontested nominee in the "Best Ballet Performance" category was "Vitaut" by V. Kuznetsov of the National Academic Grand Theatre of the Republic of Belarus, which also received the title. The title of "Best Acting in a Ballet Performance" was awarded to Lyudmila Khitrovaya for her role in the ballet "Vitaut", and "Best Choreography in a Ballet Performance" to Yuri Troyan.

The ballet "Vitaut" by V. Kuznetsov of the National Academic Grand Theatre of Belarus also won in the "Best Contemporary Belarusian Production" nomination, despite several contenders for this title.

The Grand Theatre triumphed once more. The performance "The Flying Dutchman" by R. Wagner was named "Best Opera Performance". The award for "Best Acting in an Opera Performance" went to Stanislav Trifonov, and "Best Directing in an Opera Performance" to Hans-Joachim Frey.

Valery Raevsky was announced as the laureate in the "Best Set Designer" nomination (posthumously) for two performances: "Ladz'ya Rospachy" by V. Korotkevich of the Belarusian State Puppet Theatre and "The Impostor" of the Brest Regional Puppet Theatre.

While presenting the "Theatre Patron" award to the Chairman of OJSC "Belvnesheconombank" Pavel Kallaur, the Minister of Culture of Belarus Boris Svetlov suggested: why not introduce a unit of measurement such as a "kallaur" – one kallaur, two kallaurs – when assessing the contribution of patrons.

The largest number of contenders was in the "Best Drama Theatre Performance" nomination. However, the jury named "Oracle?.." by A. Makaenok of the National Academic Drama Theatre named after M. Gorky as the best. The winner was announced by the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission Lidiya Yermoshina. To the applause of the audience, she commented on the victory: "Although the jury worked without international observation, I believe the choice was free and democratic." The production director of the performance, People's Artist of Belarus Boris Lutsenko, expressed his profound gratitude for the recognition.

Roman Solovyev received the award for "Best Acting Performance in a Drama Theatre Production" for his role in the play "Pakhavaytsye mnye za plintusam" by P. Sanaev at the Yanka Kupala National Academic Drama Theatre. Saulius Varnas was named the winner in the "Best Directing in a Drama Theatre Production" nomination for "Miss Julie" by A. Strindberg at the Mogilev Regional Drama Theatre.

The evening concluded spectacularly with the announcement of the recipient of the award "For Contribution to the Development of Theatre Arts". A 1937 Chevrolet Deluxe, once owned by Yanka Kupala, drove onto the stage of the Kupala Theatre. People's Artist of Belarus, Natalia Gaida, emerged from the car and received the award from Anatoly Tozik, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus.

The winners were determined by a professional jury in special sections: drama theatre, puppet theatre, and musical theatre (opera, ballet, musical comedy, and other musical genres). The expert commission included representatives of creative unions, the Ministry of Culture, theatre critics, art historians, creative professionals, and representatives of professional artistic collectives.

The final events of the competition took place from November 24-30. A total of 21 productions were submitted for evaluation by the professional jury, including 11 drama theatre productions, 6 puppet theatre productions, and 4 musical theatre productions.

The third "National Theatre Award" competition features a new statuette. The concept for the award prize was created by designer Vladimir Tsesler. The sculptor is Ivan Artimovich. The National Theatre Award prize takes the form of a stork on an ancient column, with wings resembling a theatre curtain.

The National Theatre Award was first presented in 2011. Last year, the theatre competition was not held to accumulate a repertoire of productions and refine the competition procedures. The organizers are the Ministry of Culture of Belarus and the Minsk City Executive Committee.

News of Belarus (BELTA)