The Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, presented on 10 June 2018, saw the Edinburgh International Festival, Royal Lyceum Theatre and DOT Theatre Istanbul co-production of Ionesco's Rhinoceros take four awards including Best Production.
The production was also awarded Best Director for Turkish director Murat Daltaban, who recently announced that he and his family are relocating from Istanbul to live in Edinburgh.
Critic Mark Brown, who presented the award, said, "the nomination of Murat Daltaban for his production of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros has a particular significance. The play is a powerful warning about the dangers of conformity, of a mass succumbing to a social miasma that robs us of our culture, our freedom and, ultimately, our humanity.
"The times in which we live can feel like the 1930s with the film running slightly slower. That is particularly true of Murat’s homeland Turkey, where freedom of thought and expression, not least the freedoms of theatremakers, are currently under serious threat."
Joyce MacMillan of The Scotsman commented on the list of winners, "fear, isolationism and irrational kinds of ‘group-think’ are increasing forces in our world, and we’re delighted that Scottish theatre—and many of our winning shows—continue to tackle these issues with such a thrilling mixture of wit, seriousness, and theatrical flair.
“From our most awarded production Rhinoceros, through Perth Theatre’s brilliant version of Knives In Hens, to a new form of theatre designed to bring the world’s refugee crisis within touching distance in Vox Motus’s Flight, and Peter Arnott’s richly comic yet revealing 21st century take on all the issues of land, class and identity raised in Compton Mackenzie’s The Monarch Of The Glen, these plays speak to the world we live in with real urgency, but also a strong sense of passion, poetry, and fun.”
The full list of winners is:
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Best Male Performance
Robert Jack (Berenger), Rhinoceros, Edinburgh International Festival and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in association with DOT Theatre, Istanbul -
Best Female Performance, sponsored by STV
Jessica Hardwick (Young Woman), Knives in Hens, Perth Theatre -
Best Ensemble, sponsored by Equity
The Belle's Stratagem, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh -
Best Director
Murat Daltaban, Rhinoceros, Edinburgh International Festival and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in association with DOT Theatre, Istanbul -
Best Design, sponsored by the Scottish Drama Training Network
Jamie Harrison (co-designer), Rebecca Hamilton (co-designer and lead model maker), Simon Wilkinson (lighting designer), Flight, Vox Motus in association with Beacon Arts Centre, commissioned by Edinburgh International Festival -
Best Music and Sound
Oğuz Kaplangi (composer, sound designer), Rhinoceros, Edinburgh International Festival and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in association with DOT Theatre, Istanbul -
Best Technical Presentation, sponsored by BECTU
Flight, Vox Motus in association with Beacon Arts Centre, commissioned by Edinburgh International Festival -
Best Production for Children and Young People sponsored by Young Scot
Space Ape, Andy Cannon and Red Bridge -
Best New Play
Peter Arnott, The Monarch of the Glen, Pitlochry Festival Theatre -
Best Production
Rhinoceros, Edinburgh International Festival and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in association with DOT Theatre, Istanbul