The passing of The Naledi Theatre Awards’ visionary Dawn Lindberg has left a huge gap in the South African Theatre arena. Not only was Dawn a consummate performer, director and producer in her own right, but also the founder and CEO of the prestigious Naledi Theatre Awards.
Dawn, on many occasions, expressed her fervent wish that the Naledis would continue once she was gone. Nobody, let alone Dawn, expected it to be so sudden and so soon. In typical Dawn fashion, she had a very strong and defined succession plan in place – a plan that had already started to be implemented when she semi-retired to her dream home in Plett at the end of 2019. Her plan was simple: she had in recent years strengthened the capacity of the Naledi Board, identified her successor and had created a Management Committee, to work alongside her and to gradually take over the onerous administrative functions of the Awards.
A Board Meeting was held on the 27th of January 2021, at which the new CEO of the Naledi Theatre Awards was elected. The Board unanimously elected Lihan Pretorius, the current Executive Director and Legal Board member of the Naledis, to the position of CEO.
Lihan brings with him a wealth of experience to the role. He is a lawyer by profession, but is also a performer, director and producer. Lihan has worked closely with Dawn on all matters pertaining to the Awards, both administrative and creative. For the past couple of years Lihan has also been the Assistant creative director of the Awards Ceremony itself.
The Naledi Theatre Awards have continued to adapt to the everchanging conditions in the Theatre landscape. In spite of the dire effects of the lockdown resulting in the reduced amount of productions, and as a direct cause of lockdown, the 2021 Awards Ceremony will go ahead as usual and will provisionally cover the period 1 January 2020 to the 30 June 2021. Going forward, the Annual Awards Period for the year under review will run from the 1 July to the 30 June of any given year. In other words, the next year under review will start on the 1 July 2021. The Nomination Reveal and Awards Ceremony for the 2020/1 season will take place during the 3rd quarter of 2021. The dates will be announced soon, and dependant on the Covid Level we are under, will hopefully be a live event, but may also have to be online as per last year’s Awards Ceremony.
Covid-19 has decimated our industry and has proven to be incredibly challenging for so many of us, which has made so many people in the Arts re-invent themselves and their craft. To this end many theatre practitioners have looked at innovative ways of continuing their work and performing during this strange and difficult time. The Naledis have also adapted and, through the vision of the late Dawn Lindberg, have introduced a special new category, which will only run for the duration of Theatre lockdown. This category is called VOLT (Video On-line Theatre). Only filmed productions that were conceived specifically for online audiences, produced during lockdown and not performed before a live audience are eligible for this category. If you would like to submit your work for consideration, please go to the Naledi Facebook Page or the Naledi Website for the details.
Although the Naledis have lost their founder and guiding light, the Awards themselves will continue both in Dawn Lindberg’s honour and as the premier Theatre Awards that acknowledge excellence in the Performing Arts Nationally.
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Issued on behalf of: Kgomotso Christopher and the Board of The Naledi Theatre Awards
Press Enquiries:
Chris Avant Smith
0610609257
Note to editors: Please note the new contact email address for the awards
