Golden Prigs – Guide Dog Awards Lent 2011

SEE the Lent 2011 Platinum Tab Winners HERE

Welcome back viewers, and, to those of you who can, welcome back readers.

I see you’ve been voting hard in the attempt to fortify your opinion with the paw-print of my official approval, but this has nothing to do with that. The Golden Prigs were voted for by people who know what they’re talking about, and by virtue of that fact have nothing to do with you.

However, I do like to have an audience (as do the winners of these awards), so I guess you can stay and watch. If any of you are more confused than usual about what’s going on, you can find out what a Golden Prig is and how they’re happening HERE.

I’m tired of talking to you now, so I’ll move on to doing the awards.

The Golden Prigs Lent 2011

Best Mainshow – The Good Soul of Szechwan

“Wildly imaginative and stylishly enacted… bold and successful“

“Every detail was conceived with measure and carried with success; The Good Soul of Szechwan was stylish, clever and professional“

“I think I speak for everyone in the cast and crew when I say that this award is a real honour, particularly as we were not a show with a huge budget at a huge venue. I really hope this will encourage others to do as we have done and pursue theatre that is prepared to take a few more risks than most more mainstream shows in Cambridge. To get this award for a Brecht – who people always tell me is ‘long, socialist and boring’, is something really special.” – Toby Jones, Director

Best Lateshow – Babushka

“Beautifully self-contained”

“Intricately, artistically constructed, unfolds with almost mechanical assuredness, and is as delightful and frivolous as a little spring-wound ballerina.”

Cast-member George Potts northernly told The Tab: “‘Amazing news! I’m thrilled and I’m sure I speak for all of us as was involved that devising and performing Our Babs together was a proper joy, and the response we’ve had from folks has just been incredible. Massive thank you to everyone who came to see us!'”

Best New Play – Babushka (an unprecedented instance of the rare and coveted doubleprig)

“Because of the process of devised theatre that led up to this production, and the trial and error it involves, we can be more sure than usual that what is eventually shown is something everyone on-stage is proud of, and excited for us to see.”

“Thanks very much for these awards. We are so glad that lots of people enjoyed the show; we set out to tell an engaging and entertaining story that revelled in the fun of making theatre and we had a great time doing it. If you missed it this time around, we will be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe this August!” – Andy Brock, director

Best Musical – Margot de Sade

“What Margot offers is an existential journey. It is painful, poignant, vulnerable, stubborn, sincere, tumultuous, hardy, tragic, heroic, and harrowing.”

“Margot: you may forget your little Corpus Crowd as you go on to bigger and better things… But we will never forget.”

We could not contact Margot de Sade directly, but we received the following statement from her agent:

“Margot de Sade was unable to comment on this win but we can confirm that she was ‘delighted’ when she heard the news and will be dedicating the award to Elizabeth Taylor, who recently passed on, in her weekly column in Time Magazine, ‘Mystic Margot’. She sends her ‘love and thanks’ to the people of Cambridge.”

Best Comedy – The Pin

“Lives up to the hype with ease”

“Marvellous performances all round; delivered with the professionalism and confidence you expect from some of the best of Footlights.”

Writer and comedian Alex Owen, widely known for his eloquence and originality, told The Tab “I’m glad people enjoyed the show.”

Worst Slating – Dido and Aeneas

“It seems that Jeff Carpenter confused ‘musical’ with ‘shit’ “

“The standards of production and direction were catastrophically dire.”

Jeff Carpenter, the man responsible for Dido and Aeneas, gave this response when he learned that the show had received the award: “Thank you esteemed panel, I take great pride in this award. I’d like to thank our Tab reviewer, Joseph Bates, and director, Jattin Kapoor, who made this all possible. Hope to see you at my next offence to the name of theatre!”

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Well that was exciting, wasn’t it? I bet you’re just wishing you could give out awards yourself. And be taken seriously, of course. If only there were some way of doing it…

Well I am a generous god so I will give you give you a way of channeling the Power of the Guide Dog.

Vote below before 1pm Monday to ensure that the shows and performers you deem worthiest can bask in the rich, metallic glow of a Platinum Tab. Head here if you need reminding of the credentials of the Platinum nominees – otherwise check back on Wednesday for the final burst of glory.