By Joy Watters, drama critic

ONE OF the country’s hottest properties on TV, stage and film, David Tennant was yesterday named Best Actor at the prestigious Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS).

The cream of Scotland’s theatre community gathered at the Tolbooth in Stirling to see the next Dr Who and star of BBC’s Casanova take the title.

The CATS event also saw Anthony Neilson’s The Wonderful World of Dissocia scoop five of the 10 awards.

Tennant (34) took a break from his filming schedule (he is playing baddie Barty Crouch jnr in the next Harry Potter film) to return home for the ceremony.

He beat off competition from Nabil Shaban, ironically a former Dr Who villain, to win the best actor award for his mesmerising performance as Jimmy Porter in John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh.

He was presented with the award by the director of the National Theatre of Scotland, Vicky Featherstone, who was joined by John Bett, last year’s best actor, to co-present.

One of Tennant’s earliest award-winning roles was in Dundee Rep’s 1996 production of The Glass Menagerie, directed by Richard Baron, who also directed Look Back In Anger.

The hit of the theatrical year was Anthony Neilson’s subtle meditation on the nature of mental health, co-produced by The Drum, Plymouth and the Edinburgh International Festival in association with Glasgow’s Tron.

Neilson was unable to attend but sent a number of messages from the Scottish Theatre festival in Florence, including one paying tribute to his father, Sandy, a founder member of the Dundee Rep ensemble.

He said Dissocia was dedicated to “the heroic men and women that battle with their own minds on a day-to-day basis”, and hoped the publicity brought by winning an award would help to remount the play for a wider audience.

The production took Best New Play, Best Director, Best Actress for Christina Entwisle, Best Design for Miriam Buether and Best Production.

Edinburgh International Festival director Sir Brian McMaster accepted the Best Production award, saying the co-production had, “brought a great team together with fantastic results.”

Best Children’s show went to Cumbernauld Theatre for Beauty and the Beast, while Glasgow Citizens Theatre won the Best Ensemble for A Little Bit of Ruff.

Best Music went to Philip Pinsky for Grid Iron Theatre Company’s Fierce, and Best Technical Award was won by the Royal Lyceum for Anna Karenina.

Earlier, Provost Colin O’Brien welcomed the third annual CATS gathering, saying, “The CATS awards have given us an opportunity to showcase Stirling and show that high-profile arts events don’t just take place in our bigger cities.”

The ceremony will move to Dundee next year, with the support of the City of Discovery Campaign.

CATS convener Robert Dawson Scott said, “Stirling has been a great place to launch the awards. We are hugely grateful to them and we hope to return one day.

“It has always been our intention to hold these awards in different towns and cities, reflecting the spread of theatre in Scotland.

“We are delighted to be forming a new partnership with the City of Discovery Campaign for next year’s awards.”

The awards panel comprises regular theatre reviewers in Scotland, including The Courier’s Joy Watters.