The University Players, the resident theatre company at the Philip Sherlock Centre, UWI, Mona, received a total of fifteen nominations in the International Theatre Institute (Jamaica Chapter’s) Actor Boy Awards for 2013.
 
The awards are presented annually to outstanding Jamaican theatre productions. This year’s nominations are for two productions staged by the University Players in 2013, namely, Samuel Hilary’s vintage Jamaican classic play ‘Departure in the Dark’ and Aston Cooke’s lively Jamaican musical ‘Jonkanoo Jamboree’.
 
‘Departure in the Dark’ received nominations in eight categories including Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Production. Dr Brian Heap, Head of the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts also received nominations for Best Director and Best Costume Design with wardrobe co-ordinator Quindell Ferguson for the same production.
 
The University Player’s production of Aston Cooke’s musical ‘Jonkanoo Jamboree which was directed by Mr Michael Holgate, Tutor/Co-ordinator at the Philip Sherlock Centre, received nominations in the categories of Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Musical, Best Original Song, Best Choreography, and Best Lighting Design. The production has already won the award for Best Original Score, being the only nomination in that category. The score resulted from a musical collaboration between Mr Holgate and then UWI student and Pop Society President, Jon Joseph.
 
The Technical Manager of the Philip Sherlock Centre, Ms Nadia Roxburgh received three of the five nominations in the category for Best Lighting Design for her work on both University Players’ productions as well as on Backstory’s production ‘Taboo’.
 
Commenting on the Philip Sherlock Centre’s continued successes in the area of theatre production Dr Heap explained, “The University is fortunate to have a very committed creative team in its midst, who are dedicated to the continued development of artistic excellence among the faculty, students and wider community.”
 
The winners of the Actor Boy Awards will be announced at a gala awards ceremony at the Talk of the Town, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on April 14, 2014