Winners announced for the 61st Cape Town Theatre Awards

The winners of the 61st Cape Town Theatre Awards were announced at an intimate, elegant ceremony at The Baxter on Sunday (5 July), powered by CapeTalk.

Formerly known as the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, the Awards have recognised artistic excellence in the performing arts sector for more than six decades.

Embarking on the next era of its existence, the oldest theatre awards in the country have a new name – the Cape Town Theatre Awards. A new non-profit company (NPC) has also been established for convening the Awards in the future.

Africa Melane, Chair of the Cape Town Theatre Awards Panel, says:

“We are sincerely grateful to Distell and Heineken Beverages for enabling us to honour Cape Town creatives for 60 years.”

“We extend a heartfelt thank you to CapeTalk for supporting the Awards. The station and Primedia Broadcasting hold the view that a thriving performing arts sector is essential to a cosmopolitan city like Cape Town, and this resonates with us. The support enables us to navigate the evolution of the Awards going forward.”

“With the wealth of outstanding talent we have in the Western Cape – an incredible 65 productions were eligible for consideration in 2025 – competition was stiff. We salute our theatre makers and encourage them to keep pushing the boundaries and overcoming obstacles to continue creating their work. We congratulate all the nominees and winners.”

“We also extend a heartfelt thank you to Boschendal who came on board as a partner this year.”

The eligible productions included seven operas, three children’s productions (two musicals and one opera), 24 student productions and 55 other main productions, five of which were musicals.

The 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Nigel Vermaas, who was recognised for his immense contribution to the performing arts and broadcasting as an actor, director, and writer for stage and radio dramas. Vermaas is also a documentary maker and host of an arts and jazz radio show, all this with his instinctive and dramatic flair.

The 2025 recipient of the Innovation in Theatre Award was the Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa (SSFSA), which celebrates its 16th year in 2026. The SSFSA is a vital platform that empowers scholars who may be intimidated and unfamiliar with Shakespeare’s work to reinterpret classic works with originality and relevance. By transforming full-length plays into dynamic short productions, they make Shakespeare accessible, engaging and meaningful for themselves and their audiences.

Winner of Best Production was the one-woman show Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater, which garnered a total of seven awards, taking the Award in each of the categories for which it was nominated: Best New South African Script; Best Performance in a Revue, Cabaret or One-Person Show; Best Lighting and Best Set Design; Best Sound Design, Original Music, Soundscape or Live Performance; Best Director and Best Production.

Hit musical Cats won three awards for Best Performance by an Ensemble, Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical and Best Costume Design, while popular favourite Chicago walked away with Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.

Cape Town Opera’s production of Bluebeard’s Castle won awards in both the Male and Female categories of Best Performance in an Opera, while Speelgoed van Glas / The Glass Menagerie also won two awards in the Best Supporting Actress in a Play and Best Lead Actor in a Play.

The winners for the 61st Cape Town Theatre Awards are, in alphabetical order:

AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING STUDENT

  • Scarlett Pay | LAMTA

BEST NEW SOUTH AFRICAN SCRIPT

  • Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater | Neil Coppen & Mpume Mthombeni

BEST NEW DIRECTOR

  • Samuel Jumat | ‘n Pandok se Liefde

BEST THEATRE PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

  • Moana Jr

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE

  • Cats | Austin Tshikosi, Brittane van Loggerenberg, Cassiel Eatock-Winnik, Darren Rockman, Hannah Marshall, Harry Smallman, Jackie Lulu, Marco Titus, Michael Fullard, Morgan Marshall, Noa Duckitt, Phoebe Charles, Ryan Flynn, Scarlett Pay, Sibusiso Mxosana, Sipesihle Ngamlana, Stephan Van Der Walt, Tania Mteto, Tannah Levick, Tatum Coleman, Zoë Mclaughlin

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A REVUE, CABARET OR ONE-PERSON SHOW

  • Mpume Mthombeni | Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

  • Carlo Daniels | Randall Simons | Colleen The Musical

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

  • Tankiso Mamabolo | Matron Mama Morton | Chicago

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

  • Jonathan Roxmouth | Billy Flynn | Chicago

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR MUSIC THEATRE SHOW

  • Cindy Ann Abrahams | Grizabella | Cats

BEST PUPPETRY DESIGN

  • Adrian Kohler and William Kentridge | FAUSTUS IN AFRICA!

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

  • Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater | Tina Le Roux

BEST SET DESIGN

  • Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater | Dylan McGarry, Greg King, Neil Coppen, Steven Woodroffe Wendy Henstock

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • Cats | John Napier

BEST SOUND DESIGN, ORIGINAL MUSIC, SOUNDSCAPE OR LIVE PERFORMANCE

  • Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater | Tristan Horton

BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERA – MALE

  • William Berger | Bluebeard | Bluebeard’s Castle

BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERA – FEMALE

  • Siphamandla Moyake | Judith | Bluebeard’s Castle

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY

  • Albert Pretorius | Caliban | The Tempest

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

  • Carla Smith | Laura | Speelgoed van glas | The Glass Menagerie

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTRESS IN A PLAY

  • Rolanda Marais | Hedda | Hedda Gabler

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTOR IN A PLAY

  • Ben Albertyn | Tom | Speelgoed van glas | The Glass Menagerie

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Neil Coppen | Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater

BEST PRODUCTION

  • Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater | Empatheatre in association with the National Arts Festival

The 2025 eligible productions were:

2Lovers, A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, Adaptation of Gogol’s Diary of a Madman, Agatha Christie’s BLACK COFFEE, Aida, Aladdin, Alice in the Cape Flats, An Apprenticeship with Sorrow, An Unromantic Comedy, Atlas of Remote Islands, Becoming Benno, Beggared in SA, Bitter Winter, Blood & Silver, Bluebeard’s Castle, Cats, Chicago, Colleen The Musical, Cottonwool Kid, Count to Five , Darwin – a curious mind, Dear Evan Hansen, Die Fledermaus, earthside, FAUSTUS IN AFRICA!, Feedback, Hedda Gabler , I can buy myself flowers, Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater , Jack and the Beanstalk, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Julius Caesar, Kafka’s Ape, La Ronde, Lemons,Lemons,Lemons, Messy, MOANA Jr, Moffie, Mrs. Mitchell Comes To Town, Ms. B-Haved, ‘n Pandok se Liefde, Poet-O-Type, Purpose, Rescue Remedy, Schumann & Janacek Unbound , Spin Cycles, Stirred not Shaken, Take me To Town, The Barber of Seville, The Cardinal, The Cry Of Winnie Mandela, The Glass Menagerie/ Speelgoed van Glas, The Grab After A Doll’s House, The Magic Flute, The Sun Is a Star and We Know What It’s made Of, The Tempest, The Tramp, The Vulgarians, this bra’s a psycho, Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story , To Life, With Love, Triptych: Women at War , Undermined, Vlooi en die Speelgoedkis / Kipper and the Toy Box, Zoo Story.

The panel for 2025 year was:

Africa Melane (Chair), Dr Beverley Brommert, Hadley Tituss,  Naude van der Merwe, Nkgopoleng Moloi, Roxy Marosa Sive Gubangxa, Thabo K Makgolo, Tracey Saunders and Dr Wayne Muller.

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