娱乐英语新闻:Sheffield Theatres big winners at UK Theatre Awards

LONDON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The 2013 UK Theatre Awards have been unveiled, with Sheffield Theatres in the northern city of Sheffield winning four awards, dominating the list of winners.

On Sunday evening, Sheffield Theatre productions won awards for Best Touring Production, Best Supporting Performance, Best Musical Production, and Best New Play at Guildhall, a medieval banqueting hall in London.

Mike Bartlett, writer of Best New Play "Bull," told Xinhua: "On TV and in film they want the new. In the theater, we have to remember that new play writing should not be a weird thing, it should be something audiences expect."

"Audiences love the new, but new takes money, and often it is a risk so it needs a subsidy and that's why we need government money for plays," he said, calling for cash subsidies from central and local governments.

Many parts of the arts in Britain have enjoyed cash subsidies from central and local government, as budget squeezes over the past three years as a result of the recession have led to cuts of 30 percent in funding from the main funding bodies.

Bartlett said his play was 50 minutes long, and set "in the round", with audiences seated on all sides of the performers, and could not have been produced without cash help.

Sheffield Theatres' "This Is My Family" bagged two awards - Best Musical Production and Best Supporting Performance, while the company's "The Full Monty" took Best Touring Production. @ Best Director winner Blanche McIntyre agreed that budget cuts are affecting theater, and said: "Everybody is finding that as the cuts start to bite it is becoming much harder to do the work at the top level with infinitely smaller resources."

Her winning work was "The Seagull", presented by Nuffield Theatre.

The award Best Show for Children and Young People was shared between "The Borrowers" at Northern Stage in Newcastle and "Mister Holgado" at Unicorn Theatre in London.

The Achievement in Dance award went to Wendy Houstoun for her solo show "50 Acts", while Achievement in Opera was taken by Welsh National Opera "Lulu and Lohengrin".