SINGAPORE, 19 March 2007 - With a dress code that read: Curse Of The Golden Flower (And Other Dysfunctional Royalty), it was sheer wacky glam at the 7th Life! Theatre Awards 2007. Held at the Singapore Press Holdings News Centre Auditorium this evening, Singapore’s arts party of the year was graced by Guest-of-Honour Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts.

Inaugurated in 2001 and into its seventh year, this year’s competition saw 57 nominations vying for 13 awards, with the Best Multimedia category staging a comeback atfer a two-year hiatus due to lack of nominees.

With 10 nominations in the bag, Cake Theatrical Productions walked away with 2 winners - Best Costume Design by Natalie Hennedige and Best Sound Design by Natalie Hennedige and Zai Kuning, both awards for the threatre group’s production "Queen Ping".

In the end, Singapore’s established theatre groups showed their mettle by clinching the awards in the major categories. The Necessary Stage bagged two winners for Production of the Year and Best Original Script, while TheatreWorks, Singapore Repertory Theatre, and The Theatre Practice clinched Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress respectively.

Organised by The Straits Times and Life!, the Life! Theatre Awards provide the only public platform that honours the Singapore theatre community every year, for productions staged in the previous year. The partners for the Awards are Music & Movement, Purple Sage, Wyndham Estate and Tiger Beer.

7th Life! Theatre Awards:

Best Costume Design
Natalie Hennedige (Queen Ping, Cake Theatrical Productions)

Best Lighting Design
Ken Ikeda (A Language Of Their Own, Checkpoint Theatre)

Best Multimedia
Choy Ka Fai (Diaspora, TheatreWorks)

Best Set Design
Melia Linggasari, Mohd Fared Jainal and Goh Suhan (The Gingerbread Man, Singapore Repertory Theatre)

Best Sound Design
Natalie Hennedige and Zai Kuning (Queen Ping, Cake Theatrical Productions)

Best Supporting Actress
Celine Rosa Tan (Jack & The Beansprout, Wild Rice)

Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Jenkins (Cabaret, Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble)

Best Actress
Yeo Yann Yann (Thunderstorm, The Theatre Practice)

Best Actor
Adrian Pang (The Dresser, Singapore Repertory Theatre)

Best Original Script
Haresh Sharma (Fundamentally Happy, The Necessary Stage)

Best Director
Ong Keng Sen (Geisha, TheatreWorks)

Best Ensemble
I’m Just A Piano Teacher (The Finger Players)

Production Of The Year
Fundamentally Happy (The Necessary Stage)


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For more information, please contact:

Shahrena Hassan
Assistant Manager, Editorial Projects Unit
English and Malay Newspapers Division
DID: 6319 5097
Mobile: 9796 6115
Email: shahrena@sph.com.sg

Tan Hsueh Yun
Deputy Life! Editor
The Straits Times
DID: 6319 5366

Eric Ching
Manager, Corporate Communications
DID: 6319 1280
Mobile: 97601150

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