Peter Brook Awards to recognise ensemble work

Published Tuesday 11 September 2007 at 15:45 by Alistair Smith

Ensemble theatre is to be recognised at this year’s Empty Space… Peter Brook Awards, with a new category dedicated to the practice.

Entitled the Peter Brook Equity Ensemble Award, it will be sponsored by the union, which will donate £1,000 annually to the prize, which totals £2,000.

Paines Plough artistic director Roxanne Silbert and Shakespeare’s Globe’s forthcoming work with director Che Walker have been nominated for the inaugural prize.

Awards founder Blanche Marvin explained: “The point is that we’re going to profile the need for repertory companies. The two nominations highlight two different types of ensemble - one in a theatre and one without a theatre. However, it is the actor that is central to both.”

For the first time, this year’s awards will take place at the Young Vic Theatre, on October 31. The Ensemble Award will be judged by the same panel as the Mark Marvin Rent Award, which includes Almeida Theatre artistic director Michael Attenborough, producer Thelma Holt, Norwich Theatre Royal director Peter Wilson and Young Vic artistic director David Lan. Stage contributor Mark Shenton will join Sam Marlowe, Fiona Mountford, Lynn Gardner and Dominic Cavendish on the panel for the remaining awards.

Marvin added: “We want to try to make the awards as national as we can. It’s important we get a good response of people putting themselves forward for all the awards, especially the Ensemble Award, for next year.”

The nominations in full are:

Studio Theatre:

• The Drum, Plymouth
• The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond
• Finborough Theatre, west London

Up and Coming:

• Northern Stage
• The Minerva, Chichester
• Young Vic Theatre’s studios

Dan Crawford Pub Theatre Award:

• Landor Theatre
• Bush Theatre

Mark Marvin Rent Award:

• Innocence by Dea Loher at the Arcola Theatre
• Little Madam by James Graham at the Finborough Theatre
• Tales of Horror at the Union Theatre
• How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found by Fin Kennedy at the Sheffield Crucible Studio Theatre

Peter Brook Equity Ensemble Award:

• Roxanne Silbert and Paines Plough
• Che Walker and Shakespeare’s Globe