Handspring Puppetry Awards winners announced

The Handspring Puppetry Awards will run over a period of five years; the first three years identify artists at Out the Box only and thereafter the competition is open to any persons producing puppet theatre in the Western Cape.

The jury this year was chaired by Handspring's Basil Jones who said that with 55 productions at the festival this year, the competition was always going to be very tough. He added that the judges were looking to celebrate the people who are expressing themselves most emotionally and intellectually through objects. "We want to inspire people to do new work and continue working in the field," he said.

The awards were handed out by Jane Taylor and Saths Moodley, and the citations were read out by Chuma Sopotela and Janni Younge, who joined Handspring Puppet Company earlier this year as an associate director. The inclusive definition of puppetry used for the awards was "an object manipulated on stage by a person in front of an audience". The nominees and winners of this year's awards are as follows:

The Best Puppet Production

(This is the only category for which visiting, non-African performers or companies are eligible.)
Nominees: Anubis (Germany), Punch & Judy in Afghanistan (The Netherlands), Sadako (South Africa) Winner: Sadako

The Best Visual Theatre Production

Nominees: Benchmarks, Door, Inua
Winner: Inua (Adult Festival)

The Best Puppet Design

Nominees: Cristina Salvoldi for Benchmarks, Hillette Stapelberg and Illka Louw for Isangqa/Sirkelpad, Gavin Younge for After Cardenio
Winner: Gavin Younge for After Cardenio (Adult Festival)

The Best Puppet Manipulation

Nominees: Benchmarks, Massacre de Mueda, Sadako
Winner: Benchmarks (Adult Festival)
The Best Puppet Debut
Nominees: Adolf en Sy Papier Poppe, Inja Ka Vuyo, Isangqa/Sirkelpad
Winner: Inja ka Vuyo (Family Festival)

Special Mentions were made of the following productions:

* Excellence in Theatre for Children: Bye Moon by Pantalone Theatre, Just a Bit of Paper by Libellule Theatre
* Excellence in Puppet Manipulation: The Strings of Music by Antamapantahou (Greece)
* Excellence in creating inspirational Eco-theatre: Planet B by Wellworn Theatre Company, Fresco, Dark Laugh
* Excellence in Physical Theatre and Clowning: Hats by Boschwhacked Productions, Vecinas by La Caravana
* General Excellence: Elev(i)ate2 by Athena Mazarakis, Madame Touxflouwe by The Space Behind the Couch, Migritude by Mwenya Kabwe, The Ogreling by FreeVoice Productions.