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Dateline: 20th February, 2004 Trouble at the Oliviers The fact that this year's Olivier Awards will not be broadcast and so have been reduced in size, being held in a hotel rather than a theatre, is just the start of the awards' troubles. Concerns have recently been expressed about the way in which the ists of shows to be considered for awards are drawn up, especially the fact that members of SOLT (the Society of London Theatre) will add plays to the shortlist chosen by the panel members. One pannelist told website What's Onstage, “They are more an industry pat on the back for commercial success or for the big names to feel good about themselves than a recognition of talent, ability and excellence.” There are particular concerns about the Best Director category. There are two panels, one for musicals and one for straight plays, and each can only vote for a production in their own category. However there were over sixty possibles for plays but only six for musicals, which means that, even before voting begins, there is a heavy bias in favour of musicals. The same applies to other awards, such as Best Lighting and othe technical awards. In SOLT's defence, however, its CEO Richard Pullford points out thatthere is nothing unusual about an organisation's members voting in its awards and adds that this is the way it works in the Oscars. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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