As of 2014 the Owle Schreame theatre company are proud to announce a new and unprecedented set of awards, the first and only* full set of awards in Britain (and, apparently, the world) dedicated to all aspects of classical theatre in performance.
Theatre is a mortal and ever-changing form, ephemeral by nature and constantly evolving. Historical theatre is a combination of that living, contemporary art and an ancient, pre-modern heritage; a way of hearing voices centuries old speak clearly and loud, of seeing the thoughts and the lives and the worlds of long dead generations flower fresh as a part of our own. A way to transcend time, and transcend death.
“It was written for you, for the groundlings, for the unscholarly Globe patrons who walked in from the cockfight on the street. Only those folks whose blood courses hot through their veins can understand these tingling lines” (Orson Welles)
The Owle Schreame Awards have been established to fill a void; to encourage and recognise some of the most exciting, hot-blooded and innovative work in the performance of Classical Theatre today. The experimental. The obscure. The courageous, the rough, the important and the cutting-edge; we exist to promote, to applaud and to connect. Shakespeare’s Globe and the RSC may be the exciting mainstream of classical theatre, but they are not the entirety; these awards exist to give some of the most imaginative artists, practitioners and devotees an acknowledgement and an applause, to put them in a room together talking about their work, and perhaps to give an amplification where they would otherwise go unheard.
* – Whilst the Ian Charleson Award honours actors under 30, and the Sam Wanamaker Prize rewards an individual’s long-term achievements, neither has the far-reaching scope or performance, innovation and artist specific commitment that the Owle Schreame Awards does; the only full set of awards to do so.
The Owle Schreame Awards 