Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Briton Selina Thompson and Canadians Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava have been recognised by The Stage Edinburgh Awards 2017 in the final week of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thompson won for her performance in one-woman show Salt, while Nostbakken and Sadava earned the award for their show Mouthpiece.
This is the third award that Thompson has won for her show, which retraces the transatlantic slave route. The show also bagged a Total Theatre award for innovation, experimentation and playing with form, as well as the inaugural Filipa Braganca award for the best female solo performance by an emerging artist at the fringe.
The Stage’s reviews editor and joint lead critic Natasha Tripney said: “I saw Selina’s performance on my first day at the fringe and it is stayed with me throughout my time. Salt is a piece of extraordinary emotional and physical commitment.
“It takes courage to tell and retell that story on a daily basis, to revisit those places. It is a piece of grace and delicacy, anger and pain and she is in complete control of it as a performer.”
Writing on Twitter, Thompson simply said “gosh”.
Mouthpiece, which is running at the Canada Hub at King’s Hall, uses two performers to portray one woman’s psyche.
Describing Nostbakken and Sadava’s performances, The Stage critic Anna Winter said: “Both performers are verbally and musically virtuosic, and they use incredible skill and timing to create a rare theatrical alchemy - conjuring up a quibbling rapid-fire female character who's prickly and vulnerable, who segues from blasting out Cher-style belters to blurted confessions and questions. It's such an intricate performance, a show to cherish.”
Nostbakken said she was “thrilled and honoured” to receive the award.
She added: “It is so very encouraging that a show that screams about what it feels like to be under the thumb of the patriarchy can sell tickets and attract interest and pull in such a diverse audience. We feel extremely moved by the whole experience here at the fringe and this award is icing on the cake.”
From Tim Bano for www.thestage.co.uk.
Photo: Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken. ©2016 Brooke Wedlock.
2017-08-25
Edinburgh: Canadians Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava win in finals of The Stage Edinburgh Awards 2017