Picture of Neil Coppen, who was awarded the Award Best Director: provided to the media and published with permission
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.
“We are sincerely grateful to Distell and Heineken Beverages for enabling us to honour Cape Town creatives for 60 years,” says Africa Melane, Chair of the Cape Town Theatre Awards Panel.
“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,” says Melane.
“We also extend a heartfelt thank you to Boschendal who came on board as a partner this year,” he says.
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 full list of winners of the 61st Cape Town Theatre Awards are:
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 - Sonwa Sakuba Institute for the Performing Arts (SSIPA)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE
Cats | Austin Tshikosi, Brittane van Loggerenberg, Cassiel Eatock-Winnik, Cleto van Rooi, 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 | Greg King
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 Baxter Theatre Centre and the National Arts Festival
AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN THEATRE
Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Nigel Vermaas
The panel for the 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.
The 2025 Cape Town Theatre Awards were audited by The Finance Man and Cluver Markotter Attorneys.