Forth Childrens Theatre

In the 30+ years of FCT’s existence only one actor in Hollywood achieved back-to-back Oscar success. Well, FCT have done the equivalent in their field with consecutive Best Musical ENDAs in 2008 and 2009. An incredible feat given the competition.

Read on….

Yes, a bit difficult to read – here is the full article…

Theatre groups full of cheer after second award in a row

LIAM RUDDEN and LAURA CUMMINGS

Evening News  29 Aug 2009

TWO amateur theatre companies are celebrating after winning Evening News Drama Awards for the second consecutive year.

Edinburgh Theatre Arts received the award for Best Play on this year’s Fringe at a glittering awards ceremony on the roof of The Gilded Balloon, in the Loft VIP Bar last night.

The biggest cheer of the night came when Forth Children’s Theatre was named the winner of the Best Musical award for its production of Ragtime.

It follows the youth theatre company’s success at the 2008 awards when it won the same accolade for its production of Jekyll and Hyde.

Cabaret star Camille O’Sullivan presented Edinburgh Theatre Arts with the Best Play award for A Tale Of Two Cities, which centred on the French Revolution.

Cabaret act Frisky and Mannish – also known as Laura Corcoran and Matthew Jones – presented Forth Children’s Theatre with its award.

Frisky had the audience in fits of laughter when she said that both her and Matthew started off in the amateur world, which is “a great place to learn a sense of irony”.

Chairman of Edinburgh Theatre Arts and director of A Tale Of Two Cities, John McLinden, 62, said: “It is fantastic to win the award because it is great recognition for six months of really hard work putting the show together.

“It was quite a complicated show with 34 scenes, which we had to cram into St Ninian’s Church hall.”

He laughed: “We also had to build a working guillotine for people to have their heads chopped off!”

Director of Ragtime, Andrew Dyer, 23, added: “It is the second year in a row that we have won the award and we are very grateful. It was a very proud moment for everyone and the children are all fair away with themselves!”

Around 100 actors, directors and producers from all 12 nominated amateur companies witnessed the presentation of this year’s awards.

The awards were introduced by the Evening News two years ago to recognise the work of local companies during the Fringe.

Edinburgh Theatre Arts, whose Fringe history dates back to the early seventies, won the Best Play for its production of Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills at last year’s awards.

The drama awards were judged for the second year running by Scottish Community Drama Association adjudicator Ron Cattell, Evening News theatre critic Thom Dibdin, and Fiona Rogan – an arts professional with more than 30 years’ experience working with amateur groups across Scotland. The award for Best Musical was judged by Edinburgh actor Arron Usher, musicals producer Eleanor Brown, and James Haworth, general manager of the Edinburgh Playhouse.

Mr Haworth, 39, said: “Many of the shows that the Edinburgh amateur companies have put on have actually been better than the professional productions I have seen this year.

“The thing that you get from amateurs is an incredible enthusiasm.”

“For amateurs to be able to perform in front of worldwide audiences is just an incredible treat for them.”

laura.cummings@edinburghnews.com