In 2024, the prestigious Reinet Nagtegaal Text Prize, formerly the Nagtegaal Text Prize, was revived in collaboration with the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees. It is the biggest text prize in South Africa and drew great enthusiasm from the theatre community.
“Not only is there an element of excitement and the encouragement of substantial prize money, but there is also prestige and the opportunity to truly refine a script before it is staged,” says Saartjie Botha, director of the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees.
The prize was initially awarded from 2002 to 2010 and was created by Dirk and the late Reinet Nagtegaal. In 2025, the prize was renamed to honour Reinet for her philanthropic contributions to the theatre community. It left a great void when the competition was discontinued in 2010. The first winner was Pieter Fourie for Koggelmanderman, and other well-known theatre productions such as Die naaimasjien (Rachelle Greeff) and Draadwerk (Daleen Kruger) were born from this competition.
“We want to attract top writers to submit high-quality scripts that can be developed for the stage and ultimately be performed for an audience,” says Dirk.
In addition to prize money, the overall winner receives mentorship and support to bring their text to completion, as well as the possibility of a performance run at the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees. Two runners-up are also named, who also receive prize money. The winner of the first Nagtegaal Text Prize in its new era is Dianne du Toit Albertze with her text Huis van sand. The runners-up were André Gerber in second place (Die kabinet) and Lee Doubell in third place (Kom komeet, kom).