The 21st annual Naledi Theatre Awards have announced their winners for productions staged in 2025, with My Fair Lady and Sarajevo emerging as the night’s biggest productions. The Naledi Theatre Awards are annual South African national theatre awards held in Gauteng, launched in 2004 by the late Dawn Lindberg after the Vita Awards ended, and have since grown into South Africa’s longest-standing national awards organisation dedicated to the professional theatre industry. Their mission is to recognise and reward excellence in the performing arts, raise the profile of live theatre, and create awareness of the abundant talent on South African stages, with judges typically evaluating over 100 productions across approximately 25 categories each year.

This year’s awards, which cover professional productions staged between January and December 2025, saw My Fair Lady (Pieter Toerien and Cape Town Opera) claim Best Production of a Musical alongside Best Lead Performance for both Leah Mari and Craig Urbani, Best Supporting Performance: Male for Mark Richardson, Best Musical Director for Kevin Kraak, and Best Costume Design for Maritha Visagie and Neil Stuart Harris. Sarajevo (Before the End Productions and Daphne Kuhn) took Best Production of a Play, Best Director for Thorsten Wedekind, Best Lead Performance: Female for Aimée Mica Komorowsky, and Best Breakthrough Performance in a Play for Ivan Nedeljkovic. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat also had a strong night, winning Best Director of a Musical for Anton Luitingh and Duane Alexander, Best Choreography in a Musical, Best Breakthrough Performance in a Musical for Daniel Conradie, and Best Ensemble in a Musical.

Among the special awards, Lifetime Achievement Awards went to André Odendaal, Bryan Hill, and Dr. Thembi Mtshali-Jones — three figures who have dedicated their careers to South African theatre — while Bongani Linda (RIP) was honoured posthumously with an In Memoriam Lifetime Achievement Award. Scenario Performing Arts received the CEO’s Award for Innovation in or Contribution to Theatre. Elsewhere in the category awards, The Fatherland won Best Original Score (McKenzie Matome, Zakhele Mabena and Shalate Sekhabi) and Best Theatre Set- and AV Design (Sherldon Marema); Moving Into Dance took Best Production in Dance, Physical Theatre and Ballet for Carmina Buranaand Best Choreography for Sylvia Glasser’s Baobab; and Modise Sekgothe’s Gabo Legwala claimed Best New South African Script/Adaptation, one of the most closely watched categories for recognising home-grown writing.

The full list of winners is available at naleditheatreawards.com. Congratulations to all the recipients!